NTSB Assisting In Investigation

A month-old Lion Air Boeing 737-800 went down, short of the runway, but without any loss of life.

The 108 persons on board were all reported to have survived the accident where the 737 went down less than 200 feet short of the runway and impacted in the ocean while attempting to land in Bali, Indonesia. Injuries were reported to upwards of 45 people, and the fuselage was seen to have been broken in a number of places as a result of the impact. The flight started earlier in the day in Bandung, and had flown two other legs, Saturday, before the Bali impact.

This is Lion Air's sixth major accident since 2002 and the airline has been cited by a number of safety regulators as a carrier that has problems in that regard. The rapidly growing carrier, though, has major orders in for both Airbus and Boeing aircraft in order to aggressively enlarge its fleet and global reach.

The NTSB has sent a team of investigators to assist the government of Indonesia on its accident investigation of a Lion Air Boeing 737-800. On April 13, 2013 at about 3:15 p.m. local time, the airplane crashed on approach to Ngurah Rai Airport, due to unknown circumstances. There were no fatalities reported.

As the U.S. is the state of design and manufacture of the Boeing 737, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman has appointed Senior Air Safety Investigator Dennis Jones as the traveling U.S. accredited representative.  Dennis Jones is leading a team of investigators specializing in airplane structures, systems, and survival factors, as well as advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.

The investigation is being conducted by the Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee which will release all information.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.lionair.co.id