Indonesian searchers using sonar equipment said on Wednesday Dec 31 that they may have located wreckage from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 but are unable to confirm its structural condition. However confusion surrounds this claim.
Seven bodies – one in a flight attendant uniform – have now been recovered but the operation was suspended yesterday afternoon due to bad weather.
Indonesian search and rescue chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said that bad weather has forced his teams to stop the recovery. “Weather is bad currently. High tides and heavy rains. Every element is now in their position ready to make a move when the weather improves,” he said.
However wreck salvage experts caution that there are many planes and ships on the sea floor in the Java Sea, mostly from WW11 actions.
Rescue workers descended on ropes from helicopters to try and retrieve more bodies but were hindered by two-metre waves and very strong winds, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi told media.
Flight QZ8501 was flying between Surabaya and Singapore with 162 passengers and crew on Sunday morning when it disappeared off radar in severe weather approximately 42 minutes into the flight.
AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes says he’ll travel to the recovery site on Wednesday. “I have apologised profusely for what they [the relatives] are going through,” said Mr Fernandes. “I am the leader of this company, and I have to take responsibility. This is a scar with me for the rest of my life.”
The plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders have yet to be recovered but experts agree this should be accomplished in the next 48 hours.
The black boxes will be taken to Jakarta where the Indonesian crash investigator has the capability to download the data.That facility was set up with the help of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
