Lion Air Flight 610

Lion Air Flight 610

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea on 29 October 2018, killing all 189 passengers and crew. It is the deadliest accident in Lion Air’s 18-year history, surpassing the 2004 crash in Surakarta that killed 25. The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Committee, which published its final report in October 2019. A faulty sensor, inadequate maintenance, poor pilot training and a failure to heed previous problems with the same aircraft were all contributing factors.

About Lion Air Flight 610 in brief

Summary Lion Air Flight 610Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea on 29 October 2018, killing all 189 passengers and crew. It was the first major accident involving the new Boeing 737 MAX series of aircraft, introduced in 2017. It is the deadliest accident in Lion Air’s 18-year history, surpassing the 2004 crash in Surakarta that killed 25, and the second deadliest aircraft accident in Indonesia behind Garuda Indonesia Flight 152. The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Committee, which published its final report in October 2019. The NTSC found nine factors that contributed to the accident, without assigning precedence between them. A faulty sensor, inadequate maintenance, poor pilot training and a failure to heed previous problems with the same aircraft were all contributing factors. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737MAX 8, registration PK-LQP, line number 7058, powered by two CFM International LEAP engines. It made its first flight on 30 July 2018 and was delivered new to Lion Air on 13 August 2018. The flight’s cockpit crew were captain Bhavye Suneja, an Indian national who had flown with the airline for more than seven years and had about 6,028 hours of flight experience; and Indonesian co-pilot Harvino. The six flight attendants were all Indonesians. There were 189 people on board the aircraft: 181 passengers and two pilots, as well as six cabin crew, three civil servants, three police officers and 10 state officials. Twenty Ministry of Finance officials were among the passengers, among the total of 38 civil servants and state officials, including three auditors from the Finance Board of Indonesia, three Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources employees, three public attorneys, three National Police officers, and three National People’s Representative Council members.

It took off from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta and was scheduled to arrive at Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinang at 7: 20 a. m. local time. The plane took off in a westward direction before circling around to a northeast heading, which it held until crashing offshore northeast of Jakarta in waters estimated to be up to 115 ft deep. The pilot requested clearance to return to the Jakarta airport 35 km into the flight, but it was denied. The crash site was located 34 km off the coast of the island of Java. Workers on an offshore oil platform reportedly saw the aircraft crash with a steep nose-down-down from the platform and debris from the aircraft was found shortly after. The first victim was identified two days after the crash. The flight data recorder was found on 1 November and recovered for analysis. One member of the volunteer rescue team died during recovery operations. At the time of the crash, the aircraft had flown about 800 hours in service. It is believed to have been the first accident involving a 737 MAX since the type’s entry into service on 22 May 2017, and a deadliest accident involving an Boeing 737.