SilkAir Flight 185 facts for kids
9V-TRF, the aircraft involved in the crash.
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| Occurrence summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 19 December 1997 |
| Summary | Cause disputed |
| Place | Musi River, Palembang, Indonesia 2°27′30″S 104°56′12″E / 2.45833°S 104.93667°E |
| Passengers | 97 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 104(all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-36N |
| Airline/user | SilkAir |
| Registration | 9V-TRF |
| Flew from | Soekarno–Hatta Int'l Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Flying to | Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore |
SilkAir Flight 185 was a regular international flight from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Singapore. On December 19, 1997, the Boeing 737-300 airplane crashed into the Musi River in Sumatra. All 97 passengers and seven crew members on board, a total of 104 people, sadly died in the accident.
Two different groups investigated what caused the crash: the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC). The NTSB believed the crash was caused by the pilot intentionally making the plane dive. However, the Indonesian NTSC said they found "no concrete evidence" to support this idea. In the end, the NTSC stated they could not figure out the exact cause of the crash.
Even with these findings, some people still think a part called the hydraulic power control unit (PCU) might have been faulty. This part helps control the plane's rudder. Similar rudder problems were linked to other Boeing 737 crashes, like United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427. A separate investigation for a lawsuit found that tiny flaws in the PCU could have caused the rudder to move sharply, making the plane impossible to control. The company that made the rudder controls later reached an agreement with the victims' families.
Contents
About the Airplane
The plane on Flight 185 was a Boeing 737-300. Its registration number was 9V-TRF. It had two powerful CFM56-3B2 engines. The plane first flew on January 27, 1997, and was given to SilkAir on February 14, 1997. This means it was only 10 months old when the crash happened. It was the newest plane in SilkAir's fleet and had flown over 2,200 hours. This was the first and only time SilkAir lost a plane in a fatal accident.
What Happened During the Flight
The Boeing 737 took off from Jakarta's Soekarno–Hatta International Airport at 3:37 PM local time. It was heading for Singapore Changi Airport on a flight expected to last about 80 minutes. There were 97 passengers and seven crew members on board. The pilot was Captain Tsu Way Ming, 41, from Singapore, and the co-pilot was First Officer Duncan Ward, 23, from New Zealand. The weather was expected to be good, except for some thunderstorms near Singkep Island.
The plane was told to climb to 35,000 feet. At 3:47 PM, while climbing through 24,500 feet, the crew asked to fly directly to a specific point called PARDI. At 3:53 PM, the crew reported they had reached their cruising height of 35,000 feet. They were cleared to fly to PARDI and report when they were near Palembang.
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which records sounds in the cockpit, stopped working at 4:05 PM. Some believe Captain Tsu might have turned it off. At 4:10 PM, air traffic controllers told the flight they were near Palembang and to contact Singapore Control when they reached PARDI. First Officer Ward confirmed this message.
About six minutes after the CVR stopped, the flight data recorder (FDR) also stopped recording at 4:11 PM. The TV show Mayday suggests that Captain Tsu might have found a reason to get First Officer Ward out of the cockpit. After Ward left, the pilot might have locked him out and then turned off the FDR. This would mean no record of what happened next would be made.
Flight 185 stayed level at 35,000 feet until it suddenly began a very fast, almost straight-down dive around 4:12 PM. As it fell through 12,000 feet, parts of the plane, especially the tail, started to break off because of the extreme speed. Seconds later, the plane crashed into the Musi River near Palembang, Sumatra. All 104 people on board died. The plane took less than a minute to fall from its cruising height into the river. It was even flying faster than the speed of sound for a short time before it hit the water. Parts of the wreckage were buried 15 feet deep in the riverbed.
The plane broke into many pieces before it hit the water. The debris was spread over a large area. Sadly, due to the extreme force of the crash, no complete bodies were found, and only a few victims could be identified.
Passengers and Crew
SilkAir shared information about the people on board. The table below shows the nationalities of the passengers and crew who were on Flight 185.
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 40 | 6 | 46 |
| Indonesia | 23 | - | 23 |
| Malaysia | 10 | - | 10 |
| United States | 5 | - | 5 |
| France | 5 | - | 5 |
| Germany | 4 | - | 4 |
| United Kingdom | 3 | - | 3 |
| Japan | 2 | - | 2 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | - | 1 |
| Austria | 1 | - | 1 |
| India | 1 | - | 1 |
| Taiwan | 1 | - | 1 |
| Australia | 1 | - | 1 |
| New Zealand | - | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 97 | 7 | 104 |
Among those who died was a famous Singaporean model and writer named Bonny Hicks.
After the Crash
Memorials
A special place to remember the victims was built at the burial site in the Botanical Gardens near Palembang. Another memorial is located at Choa Chu Kang Cemetery in Singapore.
TV Show About the Accident
The TV series Mayday (also known as Air Crash Investigation) made an episode about this accident in 2012. It was called Pushed to the Limit or Pilot Under Pressure in some countries.
See also
In Spanish: Vuelo 185 de SilkAir para niños
