SAR Operation To Find Victims Of Sukhoi Crash Postponed To Friday

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA (Indonesia), May 11 (Bernama) -- The search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate 45 victims of the air crash involving Russian Sukhoi Superjet-100 in Indonesia has been postponed to 6am on Friday due to bad weather conditions. Indonesian National SAR Committee had also refused to anticipate the outcome of the operation after pieces of the passenger jet were found around Mount Salak in Bogor early Thursday. Apart from Indonesian nationals, other passengers in the jet were members of the press and eight Sukhoi personnel from Russia. The jet left from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta, at 2.12pm on Wednesday and was reported missing from the radar screens at 2.50pm after it lost contact with the air control tower. Prior to that, the pilot was reported to have asked for permission to bring the aircraft from an altitude of 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, but no explanation was given for the request. -- BERNAMA