AirAsia plane still missing.

In spite of a number of ships and aircraft in the area where Flight QZ8501 was thought to have gone down, nothing has been found yet. Searchers have recently expanded the area of the search to include a larger area.

hich was already in the Pacific Ocean. It should arrive on Tuesday to help in the search.

Ships and aircraft from several countries are aiding in the search for the missing plane. So far, there are 30 ships involved, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters. China will also be sending a ship and aircraft.

The plane disappeared with 162 people on board after it contacted the air traffic control. The pilot sought permission to rise to a higher altitude in order to avoid clouds. Permission was denied because another aircraft was above it. Flight QZ8501 disappeared from radar just five minutes later.

In the search, more than one oil slick had been seen by aircraft. After an investigation, the slick is not believed to be from the aircraft, but it does remain somewhat uncertain. One possible reason for the spotting of the oil is that it is in a shipping lane. Others are posting pictures from satellites of what appears to be oil slicks or objects in the water.

After it first disappeared, it did not take long for investigators to say they believed that they knew where the plane went down. Unfortunately, no evidence has been discovered yet. Oceanographers say that debris can be expected to remain afloat for about 18 days.

The waters of the Java Sea are rather shallow. If the plane is there, it should not be hard to discover its location. It is even possible that it may be visible from a plane or ship, since sunlight does travel to the bottom in most places. The head of the Indonesian search and rescue agency, Soelistyo, has said that he believed that the plane is at the bottom of the sea.

Strong water currents and winds would have moved any floating debris quite a distance from where the plane entered the water. Oceanographers said that debris could be expected to move 31 miles (50 km) per day. Time is also a factor, since the plane disappeared more than two days ago.

The search has been expanded to include nearby land areas. The area where the plane had first disappeared is a busy shipping lane, which may have helped to destroy it if it went down there.

There still is no explanation as to why a distress signal was never sent out. It was flying at 34,000 feet, and six other aircraft were also in the area.

Law enforcement officials from the United States are reviewing the passenger and crew list to determine if a possible problem might be found there. So far, though, nothing suspicious has been found.

The pilot and the co-pilot were both well experienced. The aircraft underwent maintenance last month.

It is not believed that weather by itself could have destroyed the plane. The aircraft are built to be able to withstand most storms, but pilots still prefer to go around them when possible. If there was a mechanical problem in the storm, however, that could have brought about real problems.