Navy divers go below water to seek AirAsia wreckage
January 4, 2015
Indonesian navy divers off the coast of Borneo plunged beneath the waves on Sunday to seek clues about what happened to AirAsia flight QZ8501 a week ago.
The underwater search followed a Saturday breakthrough in the hunt for the Airbus A320, which went missing last Sunday en route from Surabaya to Singapore. Sonar equipment aboard search ships detected four large objects. Indonesian officials said they were confident that the artifacts belonged to the plane.
Only 30 bodies have so far been found by search teams in the Java Sea, and it is believed many of the remaining 132 passengers are strapped to their seats aboard the plane. A fifth object was said to have been spotted below the water on Sunday morning.
Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said on Saturday that the four large objects were found in the Java Sea using an Indonesian ship equipped with sonar technology.
Despite high waves on Saturday, search teams extended their hunt for bodies and wreckage.
The Airbus A320, which was carrying 162 passengers, disappeared on Sunday, halfway into the flight from Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, to Singapore.
Before contact was lost, the pilot said he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
Searches on Tuesday gave the first confirmation that the flight had crashed, with some debris - including an exit door, emergency slide and suitcases - already having been found.
rc/tj (AP, dpa, Reuters)