AirAsia: Indonesia vows 'all-out effort'

Indonesian rescuers promised an "all-out effort" to search for bodies from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 as the weather cleared Thursday and international investigators joined attempts to locate the fuselage of the ill-fated plane.

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Thursday update

Indonesia vows 'all-out effort' in search for AirAsia victims

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia, Jan 01, 2015, AFP – Indonesian rescuers promised an "all-out effort" to search for bodies from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 as the weather cleared Thursday and international investigators joined attempts to locate the fuselage of the ill-fated plane.

Seven bodies have so far been retrieved from the Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people, which crashed during a storm Sunday in the sea near the island of Borneo en route from Indonesia's second city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Two of the dead -- one male and one female -- have been identified and would be handed over to relatives after formal confirmation Thursday, police said.

Rough weather Wednesday had hampered efforts to locate and retrieve more bodies but conditions had since improved.

"The weather is clear today. We're making an all-out effort to search for bodies and locate the fuselage," search and rescue official Sunarbowo Sandi told AFP from Pangkalan Bun, a town on Borneo with the nearest airstrip to the crash site.

He said foreign experts would join Indonesian transport safety investigators in the search to locate the wreckage and retrieve the black boxes, which are key to determining the cause of the crash.

"Ten investigators from the national transport safety committee (KNKT) along with two French and two Singapore investigators will join the search today to locate the fuselage," he said.

"We hope that an underwater beacon will be able to detect the weak signal transmitted by the ELT (emergency locator transmitter)," he added.

The transmitter sends a signal that helps rescuers to find a plane in the event of an accident.

Dozens of navy frogmen and search-and-rescue divers were in the area and ready to go once the fuselage is located, Sandi told AFP.

The plane is believed to be in relatively shallow waters of around 25-32 metres (82-105 feet).

Wednesday update

Bad weather hampers recovery of bodies from AirAsia flight

SURABAYA, Indonesia, Dec 31, 2014, AFP –   Bad weather hampered efforts Wednesday to recover scores of bodies from the crash site of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, as distraught relatives waited for news and gave their DNA to help identify loved ones.

Although officials promised a huge recovery operation, rough conditions made it difficult for helicopters to fly over the area in the Java Sea where several bodies and debris from the ill-fated Airbus A320-200 were found a day earlier.

In Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya, where the plane had departed for Singapore early on Sunday, drained and emotional relatives of the 162 people on board gathered at a crisis centre to hand over documents and medical records.

Police in Surabaya said they had taken DNA from 30 immediate family members to assist with the identification of bodies, which is set to take place at a hospital in Surabaya.

Storms had forced search teams to suspend their operations early on Wednesday. Helicopters were later sent out as the weather cleared, but some returned again to the base in Pangkalan Bun, the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site.

"For the safety reasons, we turned back," helicopter pilot Tatang Onne Setiawan told AFP.

"Besides the evacuation of the bodies, we also planned to search for bigger parts of the plane."

A search and rescue official at Pangkalan Bun, Sunarbowo Sandi, told reporters they had recovered a total of seven bodies.

Debris found so far from the aircraft, which crashed into the Java Sea southwest of the island of Borneo during a storm, included an exit door and a blue suitcase.

During Tuesday's searches, an air force plane saw a "shadow" on the seabed believed to be the missing plane, where all search efforts were now being concentrated, National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said.

Soelistyo said they were also hunting for the plane's black boxes, which are key to determining the cause of the crash.

"We have concerns to secure the flight recorders, believed to be with parts of the plane we haven't found," he said.

Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was helping in the search for the recorders, sending one of its investigators to meet with experts in Singapore, who are assisting the Indonesians.

Tuesday

The search for the missing AirAsia Indonesia Airbus is over. Here is the sad story.

17:05

Bodies, debris found as AirAsia plane believed found in sea

The hunt for a missing AirAsia passenger plane appeared over Tuesday as wreckage and dozens of bodies (Update: as of Wednesday afternoon, only seven bodies had been recovered) were spotted at sea off Indonesia, prompting raw scenes of emotion from sobbing relatives of the 162 people aboard.

The Airbus A320-200 disappeared en route from Indonesia's second largest city Surabaya to Singapore during a storm early Sunday.

All indications now are that it crashed in the Java Sea southwest of the island of Borneo, with debris and dozens of bodies retrieved so far.

An air force plane saw a "shadow" on the seabed believed to be of the missing Flight QZ8501, National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told a news conference in Jakarta.

Relatives of the 162 missing hugged each other and burst into tears in Surabaya as they watched footage of one body floating in the sea on a television feed of Soelistyo's press conference.

An Indonesian warship had recovered more than 40 bodies from the sea "and the number is growing", navy spokesman Manahan Simorangkir told AFP shortly afterwards.

AirAsia's flamboyant chief executive, Tony Fernandes, expressed his grief over the first fatal incident to hit the region's biggest budget airline.

"My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501," Fernandes said on Twitter, adding that he was rushing to Surabaya.

Initial news of the debris dimmed the faint hopes of relatives of those missing.

"If that news is true, what can I do? I cannot bring him back to life," said Dwijanto, 60, whose son was on the plane along with five colleagues.

"My heart will be totally crushed if it's true. I will lose a son," he said.

Search chief Soelistyo said all efforts were now being concentrated on the location where the "shadow" and debris had been found, around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southwest of the town of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan on Borneo island.

The town has the nearest airstrip and is not far from the plane's last known position.President
Joko Widodo was expected in Pangkalan Bun shortly and then head to Surabaya to meet the relatives, officials said.

14:50

Here is the latest from AFP. More details should follow shortly

Debris "is from missing plane"

Debris spotted Tuesday during an aerial search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 is from the missing plane, Indonesia's director general of civil aviation told AFP. He said the certainty level was 95 percent.

"For the time being it can be confirmed that it's the AirAsia plane and the transport minister will depart soon to Pangkalan Bun," Djoko Murjatmodjo said.

"Based on the observation by search and rescue personnel, significant things have been found such as a passenger door and cargo door. It's in the sea, 100 miles (160 kilometres) southwest of Pangkalan Bun," he said, referring to the town in Central Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.

Meanwhile, Indonesian media has also reported the sighting of a body, but this has not been confirmed. (Latest: Reports are coming in that six bodies have already been recovered.)

13:30

New reports of debris

Latest: Indonesia's Civil Aviation Director-General Djoko Murjatmodjo now says he "strongly suspects" debris is part of AirAsia flight, but he can't confirm that it is.

AFP has just reported that Items resembling an emergency slide, plane door and other objects were spotted during a aerial search Tuesday for the missing AirAsia plane, according to information from the flight on which AFP was aboard.

"We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-coloured objects which we could not photograph," Indonesian air force official Agus Dwi Putranto told a press conference.

Fishermen had reportedly seen similar items off Pulau Bangka.

CNN reports that bad weather may hamper follow up efforts to identify whether or not this is plane debris. Photographs have been taken, however, and they are now being examined. The new objects are not related to smoke seen earlier.

Earlier reports

Day 3: Search area expands

Day three of the hunt for AirAsia flight QZ8501 has begun with an expanded search area from 5 zones to 13. The search now includes some land areas. Before the expansion, the search area was estimated to be about 130,000 square kilometers. That's an area larger than Thailand's central provinces and about 40,000 square kilometers less than Thailand's northeast.

Countries from around the region as well as the US, France and Australia are joining the operation.

AFP reports that Indonesia has officially requested US help and the United States has responded by deploying a destroyer, the USS Sampson, which is expected to arrive in the area today.

Latest (9:30): Indonesia's Air Vice Marshall S Sunarbowo has just told the media that all the sightings of suspicious objects so far are not related to AirAsia flight QZ8501.

Tuesday's stories

Monday evening update

Searchers will try another day tomorrow after a fruitless day today. Technically it is still a rescue operation, but there is little hope that anyone could survive in the rough ocean for this long. Doubts are increasing that the "suspicious objects" sighted earlier came from the plane. Latest: Channel News Asia tonight quotes Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla as flatly saying they are not from the plane.

Monday afternoon update

AP is reporting unconfirmed reports that objects have been sighted in the sea about 1000km from where the plane lost contact with air traffic control. The "suspicious objects' were detected by an Australian Orion aircraft, according to Jakarta’s Air Force base commander Rear Marshal Dwi Putranto.

BBC also quotes a Indonesian airforce spokesman as saying "oil spills were found on the search area", but it is still to be confirmed if they are from the missing plane or from other ships.

You should remember, however, that similar sightings were reported many times for the missing MH370 and none turned out out to be from the plane.

Monday morning updates

10:10

From Channel news Asia:

The AirAsia plane which went missing with 162 people on board en route for Singapore is likely at the bottom of the sea, Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) chief said Monday (Dec 29).

"Based on the coordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea," Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference.

From CNN:

Analysts say the depth of the water where the plane is likely to be located is only about 30 - 45 metres, meaning human divers could be used.

8:25

Search and rescue operations resumed almost three hours ago with 3 aircraft and 10 ships in the suspected crash area. The weather has improved, so the search will be very intense today.

Violent thunderstorms are still suspected to be a factor in the disappearance of the plane. The pilot had requested permission to increase altitude, but the New York Times, quoting the newspaper Kompas in Indonesia, is reporting that request was denied because of other traffic in the area.

Director of Air Asia Tony Fernandez and his team are expected to brief relatives on what is known about the flight shortly.

CNN reports that the Java Sea is much shallower than the Indian Ocean where the MH370 search is still taking place, which should make it easier to locate the missing AirAsia Indonesia Airbus.

Sunday's stories

20:30

Airborne search and rescue operations have been suspended for the night and will resume early tomorrow morning. Ships, some with bright lights, will continue the search tonight, however. Experts do not expect another MH370 situation where the aircraft simply disappears. This was a short-range flight (2 hours) and the aircraft did not have enough fuel to take it out of the area.

17:30

A search for the missing AsiaAir Indonesia Airbus is ongoing in the Java Sea but bad weather and poor visibility is hindering the operation. Now darkness is falling.

AFP reports the Indonesian air force said two of its planes had been sent to scour an area of the Java Sea, southwest of Pangkalan Bun in Kalimantan province – around halfway along the flight's expected route.

"The weather is cloudy and the area is surrounded by sea. We are still on our way so we won't make an assumption on what happened to the plane," said air force spokesman Hadi Cahyanto.

AFP says that a Singaporean C-130 military transport aircraft was also on the way to the area, after Indonesia accepted help from its Southeast Asian neighbour.

The rumours of the sighting of wreckage was wrong. The plane has not been found, officials say.

14:00

No new information to report but speculation continues about the location of a likely crash site. As we know from the MH370 disappearance earlier this year, speculation is not fact, so the main news agencies are not reporting it.

13:25

CNN stresses that "we still don't know what happened." Earlier reports the plane had crashed near the island of Belitung Timur have NOT been confirmed.

We do know, however, the plane could not still be flying because it did not have enough fuel for such a lengthy trip.

13:00

CNN has just reported that there were heavy thunderstorms in the plane's flight path and thus is was normal for the pilot to request a deviation. However, the clouds were as high as 52,000 feet, far above what an Airbus would fly. The pilot reportedly had asked to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet.

This weather is part of the same monsoon system that is causing heavy flooding in Thailand's south and Malaysia's north and it may make search and rescue operations difficult today.

12:40

Here is more information from AirAsia. Note that the plane was making a route change for weather-related reasons when contact was lost.:

The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours
 
There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew.
 
Nationalities of passengers and crew onboard are as below:
1 Singapore
1 Malaysia
1 France
3 South Korean
156 Indonesia
 
At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). AirAsia Indonesia is cooperating fully and assisting the investigation in every possible way.
 
The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control (ATC).
 
The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.

AirAsia flight missing

As 2014 ends, yet another agonising wait has begun for news of the fate of more than 160 passengers and crew on a missing airline, this time an AirAsia Indonesia Airbus.

AirAsia Indonesia has just posted this message on its website (www.airasia.com):

AIRASIA INDONESIA FLIGHT QZ8501

AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 7:24hrs this morning.

At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.

From Reuters:

Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said the aircraft lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17 a.m local time. (2317 GMT).

Mustofa said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.

The flight had been due in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. Singapore time (0030 GMT). The Singapore airport said on its website the status of the flight was "delayed".

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