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30 December 2014

Bodies, debris from missing AirAsia plane pulled from sea off Indonesia





A search and rescue worker prepares to load body bags onto a flight to Kalimantan in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka December 30, 2014. — Reuters picA search and rescue worker prepares to load body bags onto a flight to Kalimantan in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka December 30, 2014. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — Three out of the six bodies discovered in the search for the missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 have been retrieved, Indonesia’s search agency said today.
Indonesian news portal Detik News reported Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) chief Bambang Soelistyo as saying, however, that the retrieval process was being hampered by strong waves.
“More than one body was found,” Bambang was quoted saying.
Indonesia’s director-general of civil aviation Djoko Murjatmodjo reportedly confirmed that the debris found in the waters 160km southwest of Pangkalan Bun in central Kalimantan was from the missing AirAsia plane that carried 162 people on board.
He said the debris found included a passenger door and a cargo door.
Flight QZ8501 disappeared from Jakarta’s radar at 6.18am local time Sunday amid stormy weather enroute to Singapore from Surabaya, just a few minutes after its pilot requested to climb higher to avoid bad weather. But Jakarta air traffic control reportedly denied the request because of heavy air traffic.

IN THE GALLERY


  • Family members of passengers on board missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 pray at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • A family member of passengers on board missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 prays at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • Family members of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 stand near Indonesia's map in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • Indonesian army soldiers sit near a map of Belitung island while monitoring search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Halim Perdanakusuma airport in Jakarta, December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • Pilot of Indonesian Navy airplane CN235 M. Naim holds a map to co-pilot Rahmad while flying over the Java sea during joint search operations of AirAsia flight QZ8501 December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • Indonesian Navy soldiers check a helicopter on the deck of KRI Sultan Hasanuddin-366 warship before joining in search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Batuampar port in Batam, December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • Indonesian Navy soldiers prepare food at KRI Sultan Hasanuddin-366 warship before joining search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Batuampar port in Batam, December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic

  • Relatives of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 pray together in a waiting area at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 30, 2014. — Reuters pic
On board the Airbus A320 jet were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, one Frenchman and one Briton, comprising 155 passengers and seven crew members.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/six-bodies-found-three-retrieved-in-qz8501-hunt-indonesian-agency-confirms#sthash.oxteDWCN.dpuf

Published: Tuesday December 30, 2014 MYT 5:30:08 PM
Updated: Tuesday December 30, 2014 MYT 5:30:08 PM

Bodies, debris from missing AirAsia plane pulled from sea off Indonesia




JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday as relatives of those on board broke down in tears on hearing the news.
Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Indonesia's search and rescue agency confirmed the debris was from the plane. The agency's chief, Soelistyo, said "more than one" body had been recovered.
The plane has yet to be found and there was no word on the possibility of any survivors.
Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing gathered at a crisis centre in Surabaya wept with heads in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away, a Reuters reporter said.
"You have to be strong," the mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, said as she comforted relatives.
"They are not ours, they belong to God."
A navy spokesman said a plane door, oxygen tanks and one body had been recovered and taken away by helicopter for tests.
AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes, who has been in Indonesia since the plane went missing, said he was rushing back to Surabaya.
"Whatever we can do at AirAsia we will be doing," he said on Twitter.
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States had been involved in the search of up to 10,000 square nautical miles.
The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic, officials said.
Flight QZ8501 was travelling at 32,000 feet (9,753 metres) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet, officials said earlier.
Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area.
The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said.
Online discussion among pilots has centred on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled.
CLUES WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said.
Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong.
Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked travellers across the region.
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French.
The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said. The aircraft had accumulated about 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights, according to Airbus.
U.S. law enforcement and security officials said passenger and crew lists were being examined but nothing significant had turned up and the incident was regarded as an unexplained accident.
Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia.
The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.
India is waiting to know what went wrong with the missing plane and will investigate if AirAsia India is following all safety procedures, a senior Indian aviation ministry official told Reuters. AirAsia India, a joint venture of the Malaysian carrier, started flying this year and is expanding operations.
The plane's disappearance comes at a sensitive time for Indonesia's aviation authorities, as they strive to improve the country's safety reputation to match its status as one of the airline industry's fastest growing markets

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