TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi pledged to impose sanction to the low-cost carrier Lion Air after completion of entire investigations on flight recording or black box, causes of the crash in Tanjung Karawang waters, and all nine units of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in the country.

“Sanctions can be imposed after we reveal the problem, whether it [the crash] is due to management, aircraft, crews, or violation on the standard operational procedure (SOP),” said Budi Karya while observing the command post of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) in JICT II, Tanjung Priok, Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Read also: Recovering Lion Air`s Black Box Just a Matter of Time, says Basarnas

Budi Karya explained the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) was still investigating causes of the crash of Lion Air PK-LQP and waiting for the black box to be found.

The government, the minister continued, had ordered examination on nine units of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which eight of them belong to Lion Air and one unit owned by Garuda Indonesia. “We have issued a letter to both carriers to inspect 737 Max 8 aircraft related to several clarifications,” he added.

Lion Air with a tail number JT 610 crashed on to waters of Tanjung Karawang, West Java on Monday morning, Oct 29. The Boeing 737 Max aircraft lost contact at 06:32 am local times, or 12 minutes after it took off from Soekarno-Hatta airport.

M YUSUF MANURUNG