Bad weather hampers search for AirAsia wreckage
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E-mail China Daily via Agencies, December 31, 2014
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Members of the Search and Rescue Agency SARS carry debris recovered from the sea presumed from missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501 at Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, December 30, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. [China Daily via Agencies] |
Ships and planes resumed the search for wreckage, bodies and black boxes of a doomed AirAsia plane on Wednesday after Indonesian rescuers found several bodies and debris floating in shallow waters off the coast of Borneo.
However, 2-3 metres (6-9 ft) waves and winds prevented divers from searching the crash zone for the sunken remains of Flight QZ8501, which had 162 people on board when it vanished on Sunday about 40 minutes into its flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Aviation experts believe that, weather permitting, the fuselage may be easily found by divers as the aircraft probably only broke up when it hit the water.
Searchers found three bodies on Wednesday morning, including a flight attendant still wearing her AirAsia uniform, bringing the total to six so far, said the head of the search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo.
Fully clothed bodies could also indicate the plane was intact when it hit the water and support a theory that the Airbus A320-200 suffered an aerodynamic stall and plunged into the sea.
"The fact that the debris appears fairly contained suggests the aircraft broke up when it hit the water, rather than in the air," said Neil Hansford, a former pilot and chairman of consultancy firm Strategic Aviation Solutions.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
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ndonesia's President Joko Widodo (R) walks beside AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes after meeting with family members of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 30, 2014. [China Daily via Agencies] |
The Airbus A320-200 was carrying 162 people, mostly Indonesians. No survivors have been found.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his priority was getting bodies off the bottom of the Karimata Strait in the Java Sea, where rescuers retrieved a plane door and other debris on Tuesday, so victims could be identified.
"I feel a deep loss over this disaster and pray for the families to be given fortitude and strength," Widodo said in Surabaya on Tuesday after grim images of the scene in the Java Sea were broadcast on television.
AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes, who has described the crash as his "worst nightmare", was rushing to Surabaya where relatives of the missing are gathered at a crisis centre in Indonesia's second-largest city.
Widodo said AirAsia would pay an immediate advance of money to the families, many of whom collapsed in grief when they saw the television pictures of debris.
The navy initially said 40 bodies had been recovered, although other media later quoted the head of the search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, as saying only three bodies had been retrieved.
Dozens of Indonesian navy divers are expected to begin the underwater search at first light on Wednesday, a source close to the investigation said.
The United States said its missile-guided destroyer USS Sampson and combat ship USS Fort Worth were awaiting instructions from the Indonesian search command on the recovery operation. Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to pick up pings from the black boxes, which contain cockpit voice and flight data recorders.
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search.
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