JAKARTA, Jan 9 – The discovery of the tail of AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 which plunged into the sea near Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan on Dec 28, may unravel the truth behind its crash.
A team of divers, who tied floats to the tail to pull it out of the water were reported to have heard a sound which was believed to have come from the aircraft’s black box. The search and rescue (SAR) mission, which enters its 12th day today, was met with challenges when facing choppy waters and high waves in the search area.
The mission, led by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), has mobilised a team of professional divers to retrieve the aircraft’s tail which was found upside down and partially buried on the sea bed.
Basarnas chief Bambang Soelistyo said efforts to locate the black box was ongoing but temporarily halted due to strong water currents. He said the SAR team was ready with a crane to lift the plane wreckage, but there were examination procedures which needed to be done first.
Yesterday, the team detected a large object at the bottom of the sea and confirmed it was the tail of the aircraft after they made out the word, ‘Air’ backwards. Although focus was given to finding the black box, he said the team was also searching for victims of the tragedy, and have so far found 40 bodies.
The team believes that more bodies are located in the plane’s cabin which has not been found. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim told Bernama here the embassy was waiting for verification as to whether the body of the lone Malaysian passenger onboard, Sii Chung Huei, had been found.
He said his officers were assigned to assist Sii’s family members and next-of-kin in Surabaya, adding that once the embassy received a report on the identification of the body, he would fly to Surabaya to assist with the funeral arrangements.
“We have made preparations, and if Sii’s body is found, we will fly directly to Sarawak on a Royal Malaysian Air Force plane.” Sii’s wife is Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak lecturer, Associate Prof Annie Wong Muk Ngiik.
Flight QZ8501 was carrying 162 passengers and crew from Surabaya, Indonesia, at 5.20am on Sunday, and was scheduled to arrive at Singapore’s Changi Airport at 8.30am on the same day.
The plane had last contacted the Air Traffic Control Centre at 6.12am Indonesian time (7.12am in Malaysia). The passengers and crew comprised 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans and one each from Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France.
-INDIA TODAY
