Armando Current Sweeps AirAsia Debris to Sulawesi Waters: Expert
3 February 2015 12:52 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Makassar – Ahmad Bahar, a maritime lecturer at Hasanuddin University, suspected the wreckage of the ill-fated AirAsia flight Qz8501 and its passengers’ belongings that were recently found in Majene waters in West Sulawesi and Parepare, South Sulawesi were swept there by the Armando current.
“This current happens in December,” Bahar told Tempo, adding that weather conditions changed drastically in December in light of the shift from the east climate to the west climate, and thus temperatures, water conditions and winds could change anytime.
Bahar said the Armando current was a current formed by wind breeze over the seawaters’ surface. He added the current blew from the South China Sea through the Karimata Strait to the Java Sea. “From the Java Sea, the Armando current entered the Makassar Strait,” he explained.
According to Bahar, the Armando current travels at a speed of five knots and—albeit moving on the seawaters’ surface—its effects could reach the depth of 40 meters.
Commenting on speculations that there was an area resembling the Bermuda Triangle in Majene waters that triggered accidents of airplanes and ships, Bahar said the phenomena remained unverified.
“The accident was likely caused by bad weather in December. So it is not surprising if there are always accidents in whether the air or the sea during the change of the year,” he said.
Another possible cause that the bodies and belongings of the victims of the AirAsia plane were found in Sulawesi waters was that the plane exploded in the air, Bahar said. “Imagine the plane exploded at such a height, the wreckage would be scattered everywhere, including to Sulawesi waters,” he said. “But this analysis requires further verification from the National Commission for Transportation Safety (KNKT).”
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
