AirAsia jet likely 'at bottom of sea': search chief

The head of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency told journalists on Monday that the AirAsia plane missing with 162 people on board has likely sunk as wreckage in the Java Sea.

"Based on the coordinates that we know, the evaluation would be that any estimated crash position is in the sea, and that the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea," Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference.

"That's the preliminary suspicion and it can develop based on the evaluation of the result of our search," he added.

Soelistyo said Indonesia did not have "the tools," such as submersible vehicles, that would be needed to retrieve the plane from the seabed. However, he said Jakarta was reaching out to other countries for help, if necessary.

"Due to the lack of technology that we have, I have coordinated with our foreign minister so we will borrow from other countries which have offered. They are the UK, France and US," he said.

The Airbus A320-200 disappeared Sunday morning en route from Surabaya in Indonesia's east Java to Singapore. The crew had requested a change to their flight plan due to stormy weather.

Search continues near island

Indonesia resumed its search at dawn on Monday around Belitung island and nearby waters, close to the plane's last-known radar location. Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have sent aircraft and ships to help with the search.

First Admiral Sigit Setiayana, commander at Indonesia's Naval Aviation Center at the Surabaya air force base, told the AP news agency that visibility was good.

He said 12 navy ships, five planes, three helicopters and several warships were searching to the east and southeast of Belitung island and in nearby waters. "God willing, we can find it soon," Setiayana said.

The search and rescue operation had been suspended at nightfall on Sunday, with anxious relatives waiting throughout the night for further news.

The plane was carrying 162 people, 155 of whom were Indonesians. The airline said three South Koreans and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain were also onboard. A Frenchman was also working on the plane as co-pilot.

Sunday's incident comes in the wake of two major air disasters in the past 10 months, both of which struck another Asian carrier, Malaysia Airlines.

rc/cmk (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)