Saturday, 3 January 2015

'Big Objects Found' In AirAsia Plane Search


Two "large objects" have been spotted in the Java Sea around 90ft (30m) underwater, says the man leading the hunt for the AirAsia plane that crashed six days ago.

Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters: "I'm confident this is part of the AirAsia plane."

He said the agency was trying to get images of the objects for confirmation using remotely operated underwater vehicles, but high waves and strong currents were hampering efforts.

One of the objects measured at 31ft by 15ft (9.4m by 4.8m), Mr Soelistyo said. The second, found nearby, was 24ft (7.2m) by 20ins (0.5m).

Flight QZ8501 disappeared from radar screens over the Java Sea while en route from Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.

So far, the bodies of 30 victims have been recovered from the sea. No survivors have been found.

Some of the bodies were discovered still strapped into their aircraft seats, officials involved in the search said.

Among the victims recovered were two children, according to reports. Only four have been identified and their bodies returned to their families.

There are now 65 ships, 14 planes and 19 helicopters involved in the search and rescue mission.

The Singaporean defence minister Ng Eng Hen posted pictures of window panels recovered from the sea on his Facebook page on Friday morning.

He wrote: "RSS Supreme recovered a piece of an aircraft this morning, likely to be a window panel. They have informed the Indonesian search authorities and will be handing over the item."

Sonar equipment and metal detectors are being used to try to discover the black box, which will help investigators establish what caused the plane to smash into the sea.

Bad weather is known to have contributed to the disaster, which came half way through the short haul flight.

The pilot had asked air traffic control for permission to climb the Airbus A320 to a higher altitude to avoid storm clouds but heavy air traffic meant this request was denied.

The black box data recorder contains crucial information such as engine temperature, vertical and horizontal speed.

The search team is also hunting for the voice recorder, which will have captured conversations between the pilot and others in the cockpit.

Mr Soelistyo estimated the fuselage would be lying at a depth of between 80ft-100ft (25m and 30m)

The victims identified and returned to their families are Hayati Lutfiah Hamid, flight attendant Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi and passengers Kevin Alexander Soetjipto and Grayson Herbert Linaksita


Sky News

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