22 bodies recovered; hunt intensifies for AirAsia jet
Indonesian Search and Rescue members and police carry debris believed to be from AirAsia QZ8501, transported by a US Navy helicopter from the USS Sampson, at the airport in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, on January 2, 2015. — Reuters
Jakarta/Singapore, January 2
The wreckage and bodies of people on board the ill-fated AirAsia jet that mysteriously crashed on Sunday are spread over an area of 5 kms in the Java Sea although search teams recovered 22 bodies and believe that many passengers are still strapped to their seats.
Multi-national rescuers equipped with sophisticated acoustic equipment today narrowed the search area for Airbus 320 flight’s crash site in the hunt for the black box recorders, as they recovered a total of 22 bodies so far out of the 162 and more debris from the choppy waters in the area.
Rear Marshal Henry Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, said bad weather was a worry, with forecasts of rain, strong winds and high waves up to four metres till Sunday.
“There are two main tasks in this priority sector: First, to locate the biggest part of the plane’s body.
“The second task is to find the position of the black boxes, or flight recorders, which will be carried out by the KNKT (National Transport Safety committee) which start working today,” he said at a press conference.
He said wreckage and bodies are spread over an area of 5 kms of the Java Sea off Borneo and the search was now focusing on an area of 1,575 square nautical miles.
The Frog Troops will dive to the bed of the Java Sea as the joint Search and Rescue (SAR) operation team believes that many of the passengers of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 are still strapped into their seats in the plane wreckage.
The plane en route from Indonesia’s Surabaya city to Singapore mysteriously disappeared from radar on Sunday.
“Divers are already on standby at the navy ship Banda Aceh to dive on that priority area to locate the body of the plane,” he said. “I hope we’ll get a significant result today.”
“We will focus on underwater detection,” said Soelistyo, as international experts from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, France and the US equipped with sophisticated acoustic detection gear also joined the search.
Over 90 vessels and aircraft involved in the search and rescue operation, said AirAsia.
Of the 22 bodies recovered so far, eight have been transported to Surabaya. Three Indonesians, including stewardess Khairunnisa Haidar, passengers Grayson Herbert Linaksita and Kevin Alexander Soetjipto, were identified based on fingerprints and medical records. It came after the identity of passenger Hayati Lutfiah Hami was confirmed.
Two Russian planes with 72 rescue personnel and sonars, diving equipment and drones have arrived in Indonesia to join the multi-national search.
France’s BEA crash investigation agency, which attends the crashes of all Airbus planes, was also on the scene with two hydrophones, or underwater acoustic detection devices.
Soelistyo said the search would be stepped up as long as the weather allowed.
“The waves could reach five metres this afternoon. Higher than yesterday,” said air force pilot Flight Captain Tatag Onne, who has been flying missions to recover bodies and debris from the sea.
“We look for breaks in the clouds where conditions improve so that we can approach. Yesterday, when we went to collect a body from the sea we couldn’t because the body was being rolled by waves. Sometimes we could see it, sometimes we couldn’t,” Onne was quoted as saying by the Strait Times.
The body of one of the victims was handed over to her family yesterday.
Officials said it could take a week to find the black box of the ill-fated plane.
Earlier reports of a sonar image showing the aircraft in the water have not been confirmed, officials said.
“It may take about a week to retrieve the flight recorder and that is if the sea was calm and there are no disruptions such as noise or other obstacles,” Indonesian Transportation Safety Committee member Antonius Toos Sanitioso said.
He said an independent investigating team will probe into the tragedy. The focus remains on retrieving the bodies.
The multi-national search mission has also recovered a number of items belonging to passengers and the aircraft, such as two black bags, one grey suitcase, an aircraft ladder and metal debris. — PTI
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