Indonesia orders airlines to inspect Boeing jets following crash

Indonesia’s transport ministry ordered the nation’s airlines to inspect their older, so-called classic Boeing 737 aircraft following Saturday’s crash of a Sriwijaya Air passenger jet with 62 people on board. The cause of the crash isn’t yet known -- divers are still trying to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage in the Java Sea. The flight-data recorder was recovered Tuesday. Rescue workers have been bringing in bags of human remains for identification, along with parts of the Boeing 737-500 plane, which was nearly 27 years old. “This is a preventive action on similar types of aircraft that operate in Indonesia,” Adita Irawati, a spokeswoman for the transport ministry, wrote in a text message. “It is a common practice in other countries.” Boeing 737-300, 400 and 500 jets all fall under the classic series. Indonesian airlines that fly those include Citilink, Nam Air, Deraya Air Taxi, Xpress Air, Jayawijaya Dirgantara, My Indo Airlines, Trigana Air and Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines, according to data from planespotters.net. The retrieved flight-data recorder is “in relatively good shape,” Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee Chairman Soerjanto Tjahjono said Wednesday. The box is being dried out and the contents should be downloaded within five days, he said.<br/>