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Rescue teams are recovering bodies and debris from wreckage that is most certainly from the AirAsia plane that disappeared on Sunday.
Rescue teams have discovered debris and bodies from AirAsia Flight 8501, missing off the coast of southwestern Borneo. The plane crashed on Sunday less than one hour after taking off. The plane was bound for Singapore from Surabaya. Indonesian officials comments today indicate that it is unlikely any survivors will be located from the 162 people onboard. The plane disappeared from radar minutes after requesting to climb to 6,000 feet to avoid bad weather.
Debris, including airplane parts, life vests and luggage are being inventoried. At least 40 bodies have been located. Three have been recovered. Indonesian television broadcasts showed bodies and airplane parts floating in the sea. Red, white and black pieces of wreckage, the colors of the AirAsia jet, indicate that the debris does indeed come from the lost aircraft. Bodies recovered will be taken to an Indonesian warship for transport to a Surabaya airport.
Tony Fernandes, AirAsia CEO, told reporters that he feels confident that rescuers will find the full wreckage, including the cockpit recorders (black box) to determine what caused the crash of the plane. Indonesian president Joko Widodo said that a “massive search and rescue operation” will be renewed on Wednesday, with the goal of recovering passengers and crew as quickly as possible.
Indonesian authorities said pieces of wreckage were located about 60 miles southeast of the plane’s last known position, which is in the opposite direction from the plane’s route. It is not known at this time how the debris came to be there, although a reference publication for mariners shows that ocean currents run generally to the southeast in that part of the Java sea.
Search teams have spotted what may be a larger piece of the fuselage of the Airbus A320-200 submerged in the water of the Java Sea. According to oceanographers the water in that area is relatively shallow. However, strong winds and currents may allow debris to drift eastward up to 31 miles per day away from the crash site.
Relatives gathered in the crisis center in Surabaya, still holding out hope of discovering the plane intact and family members safe, had those hopes dashed with the discovery of the wreckage. The BBC reported that the news triggered so much crying and screaming that one woman collapsed and had to be carried out.
Fernandes offered condolences to family and friends of the lost passengers on Twitter, saying his heart is filled with sadness. He has prided himself on the long safety and service record of his popular airline.
The disappearance of flight 8501 prompted a massive international search effort including equipment and/or personnel from the U.S., China, Britain, France, Russia, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. At least 15 aircraft, 30 ships and seven helicopters have been involved in the search which has mainly concentrated on the areas around the islands of Belitung and Banka.
The AirAsia crash and two Malaysia Airlines disasters make up 60 percent of the 1,320 air fatalities in 2014. The two-day delay in locating the wreckage of flight 8501 will likely add to existing pressure on airlines to equip aircraft with devices that send out diagnostic information and location coordinates. These calls have been around since 1998 according to Miles Gerety, a Connecticut attorney. That year a Swissair flight bound to Geneva from New York crashed and data was lost from the black box on board. Gerety says that the technology to update the position of a plan every minute or even every second is “readily available and cheap.”
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