3PM UPDATE: According to reports, the plane tail of QZ8501 has been lifted to the surface from the seabed with floating balloons and a crane. The plane tail will be examined to see if the black box recorders are inside.
ABOARD KRI BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: The tail of an AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea was lifted to the surface using floating balloons on Saturday (Jan 10), but apparently without the crucial black box recorders, Indonesian authorities said.
The Airbus jet, carrying 162 people, went missing in stormy weather on Dec 28 as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, and all aboard died.
The tail, which is where the black box data recorders were kept, was found in the seabed 30m (100 feet) below the surface and was finally lifted on to a vessel on Saturday using giant floating balloons and a crane. "We have lifted the tail onto the ship. It's red and white and a big part of the AirAsia logo can be seen," Navy spokesman Manahan Simorangkir told AFP.
On board the KRI Banda Aceh that is one of the Indonesian Navy vessels involved in the search effort, sailors cheered as the tail first emerged at the surface, according to an AFP photographer on board. The tail is the biggest part of the plane's wreckage found and could give clues to why it crashed.
Lead investigator Nurcayho told Channel NewsAsia that once the tail is fully salvaged, it will be checked for the black boxes before being brought by ship to Kumai Port for analysis. The black boxes are crucial to explaining the disaster as they should contain the pilots' final words as well as various flight data. However, he thinks it is unlikely the black boxes are still in the tail.
SB Supriyadi, a director with the National Search and Rescue Agency, believes the black boxes might have been dislodged from the tail. Pings from the boxes were detected on Friday, raising hopes of quickly retrieving them.
FRUSTRATING TWIST
But the search took a frustrating twist when authorities realised the pings were likely coming from elsewhere than the tail, and the boxes appeared to be buried deep into the sea floor.
"Last night, our divers had opened the door of the tail cabin, searched around but found nothing," Supriyadi told AFP on Friday morning. "But the boat above detected faint ping sounds believed to be from the black boxes about one mile (1.6km ) southeast of the tail ... and covered in mud."
Supriyadi said the divers, from an elite Marines unit, returned on Saturday morning to the area believed to be where the pings were emanating from.
"They are searching within a radius of 500m from where the pings are emitted. The challenge is that these sounds are very faint. If a ship passes by, the sounds will be drowned out. So we really need calm waters," he said. "So far, our divers still have not been able to determine the coordinates of the black box."
After the tail was found, Supriyadi said authorities remained confident the black boxes remained underwater. "There's a team examining the tail again to see if the black boxes are not there," he told AFP. "But the chances they might find anything there are slim. We still strongly believe that the black boxes are in the sea and our divers are still searching for them."
Meanwhile, search efforts also involving foreign naval ships continued for other parts of the plane's wreckage, as well as for the bodies of the passengers and crew. Just 48 bodies have been found so far, according to Indonesian authorities.
All but seven of those on board were Indonesian. The non-Indonesians were three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman - co-pilot Remi Plesel.
Indonesian authorities in Surabaya said that another two more bodies have been identified - 38-year-old Susandhini Liman and 9-year-old Justin Giovanni. Justin was on QZ8501 together with his brother and parents. His father's body has yet to be identified.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Indonesia Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said that the search for the bodies of passengers and crew remained the top priority. He added that search efforts will be funded from the state budget and pledged to take however long is necessary to find the bodies.
Mr Jonan also said that personnel from the Transport Ministry and Marine and Fisheries Ministry will be widening the search for plane debris and bodies along and near the coastline.
Authorities were also investigating claims from a victim's family member who received a phone call from one of the passengers, but telecom providers have since verified that no evidence of a phone call was made from the number in question after Dec 28.
The Indonesian meteorological agency has said weather was the "triggering factor" for the crash, with ice likely damaging the engines of the Airbus A320-200.
Before take-off, the plane's pilot, Captain Iriyanto, had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a major storm. But the request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia's air traffic control. In his last communication, the experienced former air force pilot said he wanted to change course to avoid the storm. Then all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after take-off.
CNA
