Bodies and debris found in sea in search for AirAsia plane
Remains seen from helicopter taken to Indonesian navy ship
Several bodies have been found floating in the sea near where a missing AirAsia flight was last seen, Indonesian officials have said.
The bodies, seen from a helicopter in Pangkalan Bun, were taken to an Indonesian navy ship.
Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing gathered at the crisis centre in Surabaya were shown weeping, their heads in their hands.
Media quoted an air force official earlier as saying one suspected body, luggage and a life vest were among the debris in the Java Sea.
“As we approached, the body seemed bloated,” said First Lieutenant Tri Wibowo, who was on board a Hercules aircraft, was quoted by the Kompas.com website as saying.
Search and Rescue Agency chief Soelistyo told reporters he was “95 percent sure” the debris was from the missing plane.
Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation at the transportation ministry, told reporters some of the debris spotted was red and white, AirAsia’s colours. “It’s probably from the aircraft,” he said.
AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes today said his “heart is filled with sadness for all the families” involved in the loss of flight QZ 8501.
The plane with 162 people on board disappeared on Sunday on its way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore after encountering storm clouds.
A massive international search effort has been launched since Flight 8501 disappeared from radar over the Java Sea near Belitung island.
The United States announced it was sending the USS Sampson destroyer, joining at least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters in the search for the jet, said Mr Soelistyo.
A Chinese frigate was also on the way, while Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to detect pings from the plane’s all-important cockpit voice and flight data recorders.
Malaysia, Australia and Thailand also are involved in the search, and area fishermen were also helping.
The plane vanished halfway into what should have been a two-hour hop.
The Airbus A320-200 is believed to have crashed into Indonesia’s Java Sea, a busy shipping lane where water on average is only 150ft (46m) deep.
Mr Soelistyo told media the search area in the Java Sea between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded.
Authorities would also begin scouring smaller islands and coastal land on Indonesian Borneo.
The missing plane, with most of those on board Indonesian, could be at the bottom of the sea, Mr Soelistyo said on Monday.
The Java Sea is relatively shallow, making it easier to spot wreckage in the water, say oceanographers, but strong currents and winds mean any debris would be drifting up to 50 km (31 miles) a day east, away from the impact zone.
“The lesson that should be learned from MH370 is that you need to move quickly,” said Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing on March 8th during a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and which has not been found.
Indonesia’s air force spokesman, Hadi Tjahjanto, said authorities would investigate an oil spill seen on Monday, although a separate possible slick turned out to be a reef.
