Big parts of AirAsia found: Search Chief

Jakarta, Jan 3: Recovery and rescue teams have found two big parts of the doomed Air Asia flight 8501, which crashed into the sea last weekend with 162 people on board, said Indonesia's top search official. Rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters that they came across the objects in the Java Sea off the island of Borneo late on Friday night.

He said in Jakarta,"With the discovery of an oil spill and two big parts of the aircraft, I can assure you these are the parts of the AirAsia plane we have been looking for." He further added that the larger of the three objects was 10 metres by five metres (32 feet by 16 feet).

"As I speak we are lowering an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) underwater to get an actual picture of the objects detected on the sea floor. All are at the depth of 30 metres," Soelistyo said.

While rough weather was a hinderance in the rescue operations, there was a recent breakthrough with close to 30 bodies recovered from the search. A total of 29 ships and 17 aircraft engaged in the operation. The recovery of the plane's black box is crucial to determining the actual reason behind the plane gowing down.

OneIndia News