The lost flight of Makassar, Indonesia By: Westley Hinton

Boeing 747 information Aircraft Information Category Commercial Aircraft Make/model Boeing 737 Max range 7,790 nautical miles Engine type and number CFM International CFM563B2 turbofans Max cruise speed Mach 0.785/ 544 mph (876 km/h) Takeoff distance 2540m Number of passengers 188 passengers Weight Empty 34,564kg (76,200lb), max takeoff 62,820kg (138,500lb (76,780lb), max takeoff 68,040kg (150,000lb). Price $228-260 Million dollars

Background On January 1, 2007, at 1307 local time, an Adam Airlines Boeing 737-400, Indonesian registration number PK-KKW, disappeared from radar and was presumed lost. Reports indicate that 102 people were on board. The airplane had taken off from Juanda, Indonesia, and was en route to Manado, Indonesia. The last radar contact was at 118' 13" East, 003'55" South with the airplane on a heading of 070, placing the airplane about 60 miles off the coast of Makassar, Indonesia. Search efforts are underway both on land and in the water.

Whereabouts The accident is being investigated by the NTSC of Indonesia. The NTSB appointed an Accredited Representative, who along with advisors from the NTSB, FAA, Boeing, and General Electric, traveled to Makassar, Indonesia to assist in the investigation.

Weather reports To this day there have still been no reports of the flight being found or discovered. The weather on that day wasn’t the best either. A storm was brewing over the Makassar Strait, and Flight 574 had received a weather warning before take-off. The Indonesian Bureau Of Meteorology And Geophysics said that cloud cover was up to 30,000 feet, and wind speed was at 35 miles per hour. But the plane would be above the clouds at 35,000 feet, and there seemed little cause for concern.

A Sign of disaster Then, on January 11, some 100 miles south of the concentrated search area, a fisherman found a piece of debris tangled in his net. Airline technicians wiped tears from their eyes as they presented the fractured remains to the media. The fisherman had found the missing plane's right horizontal stabiliser - the first piece of wreckage from Flight 574.

Evidence On January 15, came a gruesome discovery. A headrest with pieces of human hair and scalp stuck to it, floating several miles south of Pare-Pare. The remains were sent off for DNA testing. This latest find meant that debris from the plane was scattered over an area of 400 square miles.

Law and justice There became a dispute between Adam Air and the government due to the search for the black boxes from the plane. Indonesia didn’t have the equipment to search for the missing parts. Adam Air felt it wasn’t their responsibility to fund the project and offered to pay the grieving families 28,000 euros each. The families were outraged and banded together as they prepared to sue for 3 trillion rupiahs ($100 million U.S. dollars). Others are willing to sue Boeing as they believe it was a faulty rudder or valve on the aircraft instead.

Conclusion In the end, Adam Air was sued for $100 million U.S. dollars and were accused by multiple organization's of poor maintenance, and of ordering pilots to fly in all weather and regardless of aircraft conditions. Adam Adhitya Suherman, founder of the family-run airline, has personally denied these accusations, and has said that maintenance consumes "up 40 percent of our total operational costs".[96] Despite this denial of any responsibility for the crash, Adam Air has compensated the families of deceased passengers 500 million rupiahs (equal to US$55,000 or €42,000) per passenger. It also compensated families of the flight crew.