The Hidden Flaw That Brought Down Flight 182 in Just 4 Minutes

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182: The 4-Minute Plunge Into the Java Sea — Full Crash Investigation

On January 9, 2021, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 (Boeing 737-500, PK-CLC) departed Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport bound for Pontianak with 62 people on board. It was a short, routine domestic flight during Indonesia’s monsoon season.

Just four minutes after takeoff, the plane vanished from radar without a distress call. Families, children, and business travelers were suddenly gone, leaving behind confusion and chaos.

What followed was a desperate search over the Java Sea, heart-wrenching scenes at the harbor, and an investigation that revealed a deadly chain of events: a faulty auto-throttle system, a critical engine power imbalance, and gaps in pilot upset recovery training.

This documentary reconstructs the final four minutes, the search and rescue efforts, and the NTSC investigation findings that exposed how multiple small failures led to one of Indonesia’s most shocking aviation disasters.

What You’ll Learn

How a malfunctioning auto-throttle system caused asymmetrical thrust between the engines

Why upset recovery training gaps turned a controllable issue into a catastrophe

The sequence of cockpit decisions and missed warnings in the final moments

How investigators traced the failure to a hidden flaw in the spoiler system wiring

The global safety changes Boeing and regulators made after this crash

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Key Facts & Timeline

Aircraft: Boeing 737-500, Registration PK-CLC ("Citra")

Route: Jakarta (CGK) → Pontianak (PNK)

Total Onboard: 62 passengers and crew

Crash Site: Java Sea, 19 km north of Jakarta

Cause: Faulty auto-throttle, asymmetrical thrust, lack of upset recovery training

Investigation: NTSC final report released November 10, 2022

⚠️ Disclaimer
This documentary is based on publicly available reports and is created for educational and analytical purposes. It is not an official accident report, and no legal blame is assigned.

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