Indonesian airline Lion Air suffered a huge blow after one of their new jets plummeted into the sea while trying to land in the popular tourist destination of Bali on Saturday.
All 108 passengers and crew members survived the crash when it missed its target landing location on the island and dove right into the sea.
The pilot described to Reuters that the crash felt like the plane was being "dragged" down by the wind while he tried to get control of the aircraft, a Boeing 737.
Although officials state it is far too early to say for sure what the cause was, initial inklings based on eyewitnesses and weather analysis indicate that high winds and downward facing drafts from storm clouds contributed to the aircraft spiraling out of control.
These conditions are rare, but violent winds can render a jet useless if they are stronger than a plane.
At take off and landing, aircrafts are most vulnerable to heavy winds.
"If you have a downdraft which exceeds the performance of the plane, then even if you put on full thrust you will go downhill and you can't climb out," Hugh Dibley, former British Airways captain said.
Boeing 737s, including the 800 series that flew this particular Lion Air trip, have recently been recalled for inspection of tail fixing pins that could cause a pilot to lose control of an aircraft. It has not been confirmed whether or not this potential malfunction is to blame for the crash.
After all were evacuated from the aircraft, which sat in shallow waters just off the coast of the island.
At first, authorities reckoned they'd tow the plane-which had split in two from impact-out of the water.
Upon the realization that the enormous plane was too heavy, AP reports that they decided to cut it into a few parts for removal, so as not to disturb some coral reefs in the area.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
