AirAsia: Divers will lift plane's tail from Java sea

Jakarta/Singapore, Jan 9: Divers will attempt to retrieve the tail and black-box of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 from the Java Sea on Friday, depending on the weather and current conditions.

The tail salvage operation was suspended yesterday as divers could not manage in the midst of strong currents. Director of Search Operations and Training of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), SB Supriyadi said efforts would focus on lifting the jet tail.

According to the Indonesian national news agency Antara six balancing float tools for warship KRI Banda Aceh would be used to set up lifting operation.

The Airbus 320-200's tail is on the seabed but covered in mud. The search and rescue team divers would also try and see more objects underwater. "Scanners detected an object some 10 metres long and 5 metres wide. But it has yet to be confirmed that the object is, indeed, part of the AirAsia flight," Supriyadi said.

Rescuers found four more bodies on Thursday taking the total number of bodies retrieved so far to 44. But an AirAsia statement last night said that 41 bodies have been recovered so far.

The black box contains the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, crucial to determine the cause of the crash that claimed all 162 lives on board the ill-fated AirAsia Flight QZ8501, en route from Indonesia's Surabaya city to Singapore. Search authorities yesterday confirmed that a signal was detected in the tail or the rear section of the plane.

PTI