Indonesia: grief and disbelief among relatives of passengers on Sriwijaya Air flight

Boeing 737-500 went down minutes after take-off from Jakarta on Saturday

Family members of a Sriwijaya Air passenger. Reuters

"Bye-bye, family. We're heading home for now," Ratih Windania posted on Instagram from Jakarta's airport, with pictures of two laughing children and two emojis blowing kisses.

The message was sent just before they boarded a plane from the Indonesian capital on Saturday that crashed into the sea minutes after take-off, carrying 62 passengers and crew.

"Pray for us," her brother Irfansyah Riyanto posted on Instagram with a picture of the family.

The Indonesian authorities said they had recovered pieces of wreckage and human remains on Sunday from the waters north of the capital where Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 disappeared in rainy weather.

Indonesian Navy divers sift through debris during a search and resque operation near the suspected crash site of Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 in the waters off Jakarta, near Tanjung Priok port. EPA

Navy sailors recover a piece of wreckage (bottom centre, in red) during recovery operations near Lancang Island. AFP

Retrieved wreckage from the ill-fated Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 aircraft is seen during recovery operations near Lancang Island. AFP

Relatives of Sriwijaya Air plane passengers arrive at the crisis center in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport following the report that Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact shortly after taking off, in Banten, Indonesia. EPA

A number of family members of Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 passengers using mobile phones take pictures of their relatives' names from notes attached on the window of an office as they wait news on their loved ones, at Pontianak Supadio International Airport, in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. EPA

National Transportation Safety Committee chairman Suryanto Cahyono (C) speaks to the media about Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang. AFP

A Navy sailor stands guard as the KRI Gilimanuk (531) warship prepare to leave for a search and rescue operation for the Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 from the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta. AFP

Navy sailors prepare the KRI Gilimanuk (531) warship to leave for a search and rescue operation for the Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 from the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta. AFP

Relatives of Sriwijaya Air plane passengers arrive at the crisis center in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport following the report that Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact shortly after taking off, at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. EPA

Indonesian Police divers check their gear before embarking on the search and rescue operation for Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182, which lost contact with air controllers shortly after take-off in Jakarta, Indonesia. GETTY IMAGES

People are seen at a temporary crisis centre organised in the domestic terminal of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact after taking off, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. REUTERS

A woman cries at the flight SJ 182 Crisis Center at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, near Jakarta, Indonesia. Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182, a 26-year-old Boeing Co. 737-500 with 62 people aboard, went missing after losing contact with Indonesia’s aviation authorities shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. Photographer: Bloomberg

Medics and officials at the flight SJ 182 Crisis Center at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, near Jakarta, Indonesia. BLOOMBERG

People are seen at a temporary crisis centre organised in the domestic terminal of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 lost contact after taking off, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. REUTERS

Relatives of passengers on board missing Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 wait for news at the Supadio airport in Pontianak on Indonesia's Borneo island, after contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after take-off from Jakarta. AFP

Airport staff set up a crisis centre for Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang near Jakarta. AFP

Indonesian military is seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. EPA

An aviation security officer uses a phone as he stands outside Sriwijaya Air customer service at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Reuters

Airport officials install barriers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off, according to local media, in Tangerang, near Jakarta. Reuters

An Indonesian soldier walks at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off, according to local media, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters

This radar image shows the flight path of Indonesian Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 before it dropped off radar. Flightradar24.com via AP

Officials are seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. EPA

Indonesian soldiers are seen at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after Sriwijaya Air plane flight SJ182 with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off, according to local media, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters

This aerial shot taken from an Indonesian Air Force plane shows oil slick and debris floating on the water near the site where Sriwijaya Air passenger jet is thought to have crashed near Jakarta, Indonesia. AP Photo

Indonesian Navy divers show parts of an aircraft recovered from the water. AP Photo

Indonesian investigators examine body bags with human remains and debris from Sriwijaya Air flight SJ182 to be examined by investigators in Jakarta, Indonesia. Getty Images

Investigators inspect debris found in the waters off Java Island around where a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet crashed, at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesian divers on Sunday located parts of the wreckage of the Boeing 737-500 in the Java Sea, a day after the aircraft with dozens of people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. AP Photo

Indonesian rescue members carry what is believed to be the remains of the Sriwijaya flight SJ182 which crashed into the sea, at Jakarta International Container Terminal port in Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters

President Director of Sriwijaya Air Jefferson Irwin Jauwena speaks to the media during a press conference at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia. AP Photo

Like dozens of other desperate relatives, Irfansyah rushed to Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport late on Saturday. On Sunday, he was still hoping for good news about his sister and four other family members on the flight, including his parents.

"We feel powerless. We can only wait and hope to have any information soon," he said.

Irfansyah said his relatives had originally been due to take an earlier flight operated by Sriwijaya's unit NAM Air and he was unclear why that was changed.

His sister and her two children had been at the end of a three-week holiday and were taking the 740-kilometre trip home to Pontianak in the province of West Kalimantan.

"I was the one who drove them to the airport, helped with the check-ins and the luggage ... I feel like I still can't believe this and it happened too fast," Irfansyah said.

The flight disappeared from radar screens minutes after the plane took off and reached an altitude of 3,300 metres.

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The Indonesian authorities said they tracked signals believed to be from the plane's black boxes on Sunday. Police asked families to provide information, such as dental records and DNA samples, to help identify any bodies retrieved.

At hospital, the brother of co-pilot Diego Mamahit said he had been asked for a blood sample.

"I believe my younger brother survived; these are just for the police procedure," Chris Mamahit said. "Diego is a good man. We still believe Diego survived."

On his LinkedIn profile, Mamahit had written: "I really love to fly."

He and the pilot, Afwan, who goes by only one name, had nearly two decades of commercial flying experience between them. Afwan had previously been an air force pilot.

"We the family still hope for good news," a family member of Afwan, a devout Muslim, told Detik.com.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo offered his sympathies on Sunday.

"We are making our best efforts to find and rescue the victims and we all pray that they can be found," he said.

Panca Widiya Nursanti, a middle-school teacher in Pontianak, had been returning after a holiday in her home town of Tegal in Central Java. In Pontianak, her husband Rafiq Yusuf Al Idrus recounted the last contact he had with her.

"I was joking by saying that when she arrived in Pontianak we would eat satay together," he said.

"She contacted me via WhatsApp at 2.05pm with laughter. She was already boarding the plane and she said the weather were not good. I said pray a lot, please."