JAKARTA( Indonesia):Teams searching for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 recovered over 40 bodies from the Java Sea, as Indonesian officials confirmed that scattered debris found nearby came from the plane.
A major search and rescue effort involving at least 30 ships and 15 aircraft from nine countries has been looking for the aircraft since it vanished early on Sunday morning while carrying 162 passengers from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. The findings marked a breakthrough on the operations third day reports the Guardian.
The Indonesian television station TvOne reportedly broadcast images of a floating body, then apologised for the broadcast after relatives of passengers in Surabaya saw the images on television and burst into tears.
Indonesian officials said that search and rescue teams spotted the shadow of a plane beneath the water. God blessed us today, Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesias National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters, according to AFP. At 12:50 the air force Hercules found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane.
He added: All elements in the areas and search and rescue personnel will be moved to the location. The Indonesian navy said 40 bodies had been recovered as dusk fell. Tri Wibowo, the copilot of one of the planes involved in the search, said he saw dozens of floating bodies as well as bags and aircraft debris, according to the Jakarta Post.
SB Supriyadi, the director of national search and rescue, told reporters the corpses were not wearing life jackets. Indonesian air force official Agus Dwi Putranto told a press conference on Tuesday that search vessels had found objects located approximately 10km from the location where the plane was last captured on radar. We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-coloured objects which we could not photograph, he said.
Air Asia CEO , Tony Fernandes refused to speculate on what caused Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 to plunge into the water, saying that a proper investigation would reveal its true fate. “Let the black box tell everything. Further investigation will be done the moment we manage to retrieve the black box. It is very improper and inappropriate for me to speculate on anything”, the AirAsia Group CEO told the media.
Fernandes also said that they would wait for the investigation to be concluded, when asked if the airline company would now compensate the affected families.
“Yes, but let’s wait for the investigation to be completed. We will, however, be providing financial assistance as soon as possible,” he told a packed press conference at Juanda International Airport on Tuesday night. Describing the tragedy was his “worst nightmare” throughout his 13-year career as the AirAsia CEO, he vowed that he would not run away from obligations.
