After three days of intense search, debris of the missing AirAsia aircraft carrying 162 people was found on Tuesday in the Java Sea off Indonesia but only three bodies have been retrieved so far as mystery remained over the cause of the crash.
Only three bodies have been retrieved and not 40 as previously stated by naval officials, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bam-bang Soelistyo said late on Tuesday night, amid fading hopes of finding any survivors. The bodies, two women and a man, were spotted along with debris floating in the Java Sea off the Indonesian part of Borneo, close to the area where contact was lost with the aircraft on Sunday morning and then retrieved.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo condoled the loss of all relatives whose family members went down on Sunday morning in the Air Asia flight. “To all relatives, I feel your loss. We all pray families will have strength to face this tragedy,” he said during a Press conference held after bodies were spotted floating in the sea along with the plane debris. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condoled the deaths of passengers and crew on board the ill-fated AirAsia plane after its wreckage and debris was found.
“Our thoughts are with the families of those on flight QZ8501. We offer our condolences and stand firmly with them in this hour of grief,” Modi said in a statement. Bad weather and high waves impeded the search and rescue operation, reported Indonesia’s Antara news agency. This also impeded the evacuation process of the lost AirAsia QZ8501 plane in the Karimata Strait near Pangkalanbun, Central Kalimantan. “Tomorrow, we will conduct an evacuation process. The recent obstacles are the waves reaching two and three meters in height and bad weather,” Soelistyo told a Press conference. A number aircraft and helicopters supporting the search and rescue operation could not be operated due to bad weather over the area where the debris was found, Soelistyo said.
Indonesian Navy War Ship KRI Banda Aceh 593 is on its way to the area where the debris has been found. The Navy vessel will be assisted by some other ships to locate other debris and bodies of the passengers that may be found during the night operation. Among the things that the search team members discovered in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, were parts of the aircraft and a blue suitcase, he said. Three bodies were also evacuated to Indonesian Navy Ship KRI Bung Tomo, Soelistyo said. Relatives of the 162 people on board the ill-fated plane hugged each other and burst into tears in Surabaya from where the plane had taken off for Singapore as they watched television footage of bodies floating in the sea.
Indonesian Transportation Ministry’s acting Director General of Air Transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, said that the wreckage was discovered in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, and belonged to the AirAsia flight QZ8501. “It has been confirmed that it is debris from an aircraft bearing red and white colours,” Djoko said, citing that the debris was found by the Ministry’s rescue team. Search and rescue operations are on in the area in coordination with Basarnas (Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency), he said. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, who is an ethnic Indian, Tweeted to the families of the victims: “My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences.”
Earlier, an Indonesian Air Force plane spotted a “shadow” on the seabed believed to be that of the Airbus A320-200. “God blessed us today. At 12:50 the air force Hercules found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane,” Soelistyo said. Soelistyo said all efforts were now being concentrated on the location where the “shadow of the plane” and debris have been found. The plane was carrying 155 passengers, one British, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, three South Koreans, 149 Indonesians, and seven crew members, six Indonesians and a French co-pilot. Seventeen of the passengers were children. There were no Indian nationals on board.
National Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Yusuf latif said that a maritime patrol aircraft from the Indonesian Air Force first discovered the debris during a search. In all ten pieces of debris were found during the search. The location of the debris matched information from two fishermen in Pangkalan Bun who said that they heard a thud and saw explosions on Sunday morning, he was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post. All objects or bodies found would be taken to Pangkalan Bun, Soelistyo said, referring to a nearby town in Central Kalimantan province.
Soelistyo said that ships with more sophisticated technology were being deployed to check whether larger parts of the plane were submerged beneath the debris. At least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters had joined the search for the AirAsia flight that went missing on Sunday morning after taking off from Surabaya in eastern Java on its way to Singapore. The multinational operation, led by Indonesia, was joined by Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, with other offers for help from countries like India, South Korea, China and France. The US destroyer USS Sampson was also on its way to the zone as the discovery was found.found in Java Sea