1997/12 - SilkAir 185 Search Operations

At about 8.20pm on 19 December 1997, news broke that a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 carrying 46 Singaporeans had crashed near Palembang in Indonesia. Unfazed by the crisis, the SAF launched a large-scale operation involving hundreds of personnel from all three Services. Two Super Pumas from 126 Squadron were among the RSAF aircraft deployed to Palembang.

What was initially a Search and Rescue mission to locate survivors quickly turned into a Search and Recovery operation that lasted three weeks. Aircraft parts and personal effects were ferried from the crash site to Palembang; the Super Pumas also ferried people and supplies to the crash site. The search was made more difficult by the murky waters of the Musi River, where the flight had crashed. Most of the wreckage was recovered from the river within an area of about 60m by 80m.

An RSAF airman keeping a close eye on the vast Musi River during the Search and Recovery operation.