AirAsia QZ8501: Search efforts to find flight data recorders resume

Flight QZ8501 was flying from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore on 28 December when it disappeared from radar.

Search teams have recovered 34 bodies but the remains of most victims are thought to still be in the plane.

Bad weather has hampered attempts to reach large objects thought to be the body of the plane.

Officials told the BBC's Indonesian service on Monday that sonar equipment had been deployed underwater, but that the weather meant no divers were yet back in the water.

The four large objects thought to be debris from the plane were spotted on Saturday, with the largest measuring 18m (59ft) by 5.4m, at a depth of 30m.

A fifth object, measuring 9.8m by 1.1m, was located on the seabed on Sunday but teams could not reach them to confirm they came from the AirAsia flight.

Divers from Indonesia and Russia have been deployed to the search area, which has been enlarged to allow for tides sweeping bodies and debris further afield.

They attempted to survey more of the seabed on Sunday but "visibility at the sea bottom was zero", search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo said.

Remotely operated cameras were being used to try to photograph the objects, but waves up to 5m (16ft) high and strong currents made their use difficult.

National Search and Rescue deputy chief Tatang Zainudin said: "We are racing with time and weather in running this mission."

Officials have said the plane was travelling at 32,000ft when the pilot's last communication was a request to climb to 38,000ft to avoid bad weather.

On Saturday, Indonesian weather agency BMKG said initial analysis suggested icy conditions in the air had caused the engine to stall.

It has emerged that AirAsia did not have official permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on the day of the crash, but was licensed on four other days of the week.

However, a statement from the civil aviation authority in Singapore said that on the Singaporean end, AirAsia did have permission to operate the Surabaya-Singapore flight daily.

The Indonesian authorities suspended the company's flights on this route pending an investigation. AirAsia - which previously had an excellent safety record with no fatal accidents involving its aircraft - said it would "fully co-operate".

There were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew, on the plane - the majority Indonesian.

 

(BBC)