[2] Investigation conducted by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee concluded that the crash was caused by hydroplaning, which was aggravated by wind shear.

[citation needed] Flight 538 took off from Jakarta at around 5:00 pm, carrying a total of 146 passengers and seven crew members.

Most of the passengers were members of the Nahdlatul Ulama, who were attending a national meeting held after the victorious result of the 2004 Indonesian Presidential Election.

[3] Flight 538 was configured appropriately for landing, touched down "smoothly" according to most passengers, and the thrust reversers were deployed.

The aircraft split into two sections, coming to rest in the end of the runway, and fuel began to leak.

[7] The black box was subsequently found on December 1, 2004, and was transported to the Adi Sumarmo Emergency Operations Center.

[10] The pilot did not put the throttle into flight idle, which caused the spoiler to retract, one of the reverse thrusts also was found to be faulty.

Investigators also identified a faulty thrust reverser as one of the causes of the crash; they subsequently issued several recommendations to Lion Air.