Its proven... Ang moh are the best.
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Air Asia flight bound for Singapore lost contact with air traffic
- Thread starter Belgarath
- Start date
Its proven... Ang moh are the best.
Prayers held as divers thwarted from AirAsia site
By EILEEN NG
Jan. 4, 2015 6:16 AM EST
Members of Mawar Sharon church attend a prayer service in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015. About 40 members of Mantofa's church died in the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 which took place on Dec. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) — Around 100 family members of AirAsia Flight 8501 crash victims sought strength Sunday, one week after the disaster, while bad weather again prevented searchers from reaching a large object on the ocean floor that is believed to be the fuselage.
Emotionally exhausted relatives sang and cried at a tiny chapel in Surabaya, the city where the plane departed from last Sunday with 162 crew members and passengers. The Rev. Philip Mantofa, who heads the congregation at the city's Mawar Sharon Church — where more than a quarter of the crash victims were members — urged those gathered to find comfort in their faith while embracing the reality that no one survived the disaster.
"If God has called your child, allow me to say this: Your child is not to be pitied," Mantofa told one Indonesian man seated in the front row. "Your child is already in God's arms. One day, your family will be reunited in heaven."
It is not clear what caused the Singapore-bound plane to crash into the Java Sea 42 minutes after taking off on what was supposed to be a two-hour flight. Minutes before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
Despite an intensive international search-and-recovery operation, only 31 bodies have been found so far, in large part because of bad weather. But after detecting what appears to be a massive part of the fuselage on Saturday, officials said it was possible that many passengers and crew will be found inside the wreckage.
Divers waited for breaks in the weather Sunday to reach the site, but rolling seas stirred up silt and m&d, leaving them with zero visibility, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency. They were forced to turn back because conditions were so bad.
"At this moment, it's impossible to send any divers," he said. "We'll wait until the weather gets better."
Twenty planes and helicopters were deployed Sunday together with 27 ships from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. All were desperately searching for any sign of the all-important black boxes and pieces of the Airbus A320.
The investigation got a huge boost this weekend when sonar equipment identified five large objects on the seabed in the search area, but no images have been captured confirming they are part of the AirAsia plane.
The biggest piece of debris, measuring 18 meters (59 feet) long and 5.4 meters (18 feet) wide, appeared to be part of the fuselage, Soelistyo said. Four other chunks were found in the same area, including one detected on Sunday.
Suspected plane parts also were seen scattered on beaches during an aerial survey.
Indonesian authorities have announced the grounding of AirAsia flights from Surabaya to Singapore, with the Transport Ministry saying the airline did not have a permit to fly on Sundays. However, Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority said Saturday that from its end, the airline had been approved to fly the route daily.
AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region's most popular low-cost carriers, said it was reviewing the suspension. The crash was the airline's first.
While Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, many of the passengers were Christians of Chinese descent. Mantofa's congregation was hit particularly hard, with more than a quarter of the victims — coming from 13 families — belonging to his large Penecostal church.
Following Sunday's chapel service, Edo Anggradinata, 52, said he was finally starting to let go of the hope that his sister and her two children had survived.
"My mind is still in a daze," he said. "If there is a miracle, I hope they are alive, but I know this is tough. I just pray that we find their bodies."
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Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini, Ali Kotarumalos, Margie Mason and Robin McDowell in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
These religion shit is getting freaking.. It is more like an emotional consolation than it is for improvement of human behaviour.
why don't you write down your opinion on a sheet of paper and slide it up your asshole!
That should be the perfect place to keep your opinion
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Ice might have caused AirAsia crash, Indonesia's meteorological agency says
Indonesia's meteorological agency says weather 'triggering factor' as three more bodies found
PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 January, 2015, 4:35am
UPDATED : Monday, 05 January, 2015, 8:48am
Agence France-Presse in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia
Indonesian Air Force crew members taking part in the search for the plane wait out a rain storm under a cargo plane. Photo: Reuters
Weather was the "triggering factor" in the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 with icing likely causing engine damage, Indonesia's meteorological agency said, as divers found three bodies yesterday during a momentary respite from bad weather that has hampered rescue efforts.
The Airbus A320-200 crashed into the Java Sea a week ago carrying 162 people from Indonesia's second city Surabaya to Singapore, and relief workers are hunting for the "black box" flight data recorders to determine the cause of the crash.
An initial report on the website of BMKG, Indonesia's meteorological agency, suggested the weather at the time the plane went down sparked the disaster after it appeared to fly into the storm clouds. "The most probable weather phenomenon was icing which can cause engine damage due to a cooling process," said the report.
"This is just one of the possibilities that occurred based on the analysis of existing meteorological data."
Five major parts of the Airbus A320-200 have now been found in the waters off of Borneo.
But rough weather throughout the week has hampered the relief process, a huge operation assisted by several countries including the United States and Russia.
As the weather cleared, a team of divers went down to the biggest part of the wreckage on Sunday morning and recovered three bodies, bringing to 34 the number of victims found, but bad conditions forced them to surface again.Search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said the fifth major part of the plane, located yesterday, was about 10 metres by one metre.
The search, focused on a patch of sea southwest of Pangkalan Bun, a town on Borneo, has also been extended east because parts of the plane may have been swept by currents, Soelistyo said. The relief operation top priority has been finding the bodies of those on board the ill-fated flight, of whom 155 were Indonesian, with three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman - co-pilot Remi Plesel.
Indonesia has pledged to investigate flight violations by AirAsia, saying the ill-fated aircraft had been flying on an unauthorised schedule when it crashed. The airline has now been suspended from flying the Surabaya-Singapore route.
But the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said it had granted permission for the airline's Sunday flight.
Additional reporting by Xinhua
Search for victims of crashed AirAsia plane resumes after FIFTH large piece of wreckage found - as bad weather that stopped divers from entering fuselage finally improves
- A part measuring 18 metres by 5.4 metres is believed to be aircraft's body
- Searchers came across 'four big objects' in the Java Sea near Borneo
- On their second trip, they came across a fifth piece of the wreckage
- This comes after a 14-page report filed by Indonesian meteorologists revealed icing may have been a cause of the crash
- Four bodies were recovered on Sunday, with a total of 34, 128 still missing
- There is 'zero visibility' at the bottom , strong tides and murky water
- Plane crashed last Sunday, halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, to Singapore
- Divers will attempt again today to locate the large objects on the ocean floor believed to be the fuselage
Published: 01:37 GMT, 4 January 2015 | Updated: 01:35 GMT, 5 January 2015
Divers have resumed the search for victims of the crashed AirAsia Flight 8501 after a fifth large object was located on the ocean floor.
Sonar equipment detected five massive objects, which Indonesian officials said they are confident is part of the wreckage.
The search has remained a struggle due to 'zero visibility', strong tides and murky water at the bottom of the ocean.
But with the weather improved today, divers will attempt again to locate the parts believed to be the fuselage of the flight that crashed more than a week ago, where most passengers are believed to lie still strapped to their seats.
Suryadi B. Supriyadi, Indonesia's National Search and Rescue director of operations, said: 'If it cannot be done by divers, we will use sophisticated equipment with capabilities of tracking underwater objects and then will lift them up.
'But today's searching mission is still, once again, depend on the weather.'
Search and rescue personnel carry debris of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 from a Singapore Navy helicopter
Search and rescue personnel carry a body bag containing a victim of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Iskandar Air Base in Indonesia on Sunday
Sailors from the US Navy's USS Fort Worth searching in the Java Sea for AirAsia Flight QZ8501
Bags containing dead bodies of the passengers of AirAsia Flight 8501 are lifted from a smal boat to Indonesian navy vessel KRI Banda Aceh
A search diver overseas the transfer of recovered victims of the AirAsia plane crash
The search efforts have been seriously impaired by poor conditions, facing tropical storms which are causing strong tides and stirring up m&d on the ocean floor to cause extremely poor visbility
These images show parts of the recovered wreckage, including an aircraft window panel. They were recovered by the Republic of Singapore Navy
Divers from the National Search And Rescue Agency inspect their gear on KN SAR Purworejo ship today
The group of divers are part of the ongoing search and rescue operation in a bid to find the wreckage
Bad weather forced divers trying to identify sunken wreckage from the crashed AirAsia passenger jet to abort their mission on Sunday
An Indonesian diver from the rescue agency BASARNAS tries on his mask as he prepares himself for rescue
High waves and strong winds in the past few days had prevented divers equipped with cameras and sonar devices from scouring the sea floor to find more debris and bodies
A rescue boat is unloaded from the agency's ship during a continued search effort earlier today
Fully-equipped divers and other agency members board the rescue boat and make their way out to sea
The rescue team in the rubber dinghy can be seen beside the Indonesian Navy ship as they sail in rough seas
The remains of four passengers were found on Sunday, the eighth day of the search, bringing the total number of recovered bodies to 34.
There were 162 people on board and no survivors have been found. Three of the victims are from the US and the fourth is from Singapore.
Four 'big objects' were first located at the bottom of the Java Sea near Borneo.
Soon after a fifth piece of the wreckage was also found at a different location on the seabed, measuring 9.8 metres long, 1.1 metres wide and 0.4 metre high.
Basarnas chief Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo confirmed that, due to extremely poor visibility and currents of three to five knots, search efforts had been marred and divers have been temporarily stopped.
They hope to soon deploy a remotely-operated underwater vehicle.
The biggest piece, measuring 18 metres long and 5.4 metres wide, appeared to be part of the jet's body, Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency said.
It comes as Indonesian weather experts speculate icing of the engine could have been one of the possible scenarios that caused the plane to crash last Sunday, halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, to Singapore.
Military airbase crew walk under the heavy rain at Iskandar airbase, Pangkalan bun, as bad weather slows down the search for victims and debries of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 crash on January 4
Indonesian Air Force crew members taking part in the search take shelter from an intense wait out storm under the tail of a cargo plane at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan
News of the fuselage comes as Indonesian weather experts speculate icing of the engine could have been one of the possible scenarios that caused the crash
It comes as Indonesian weather experts speculate icing of the engine could have been one of the possible scenarios that caused the crash
The discovery of the four large objects was made off the coast of the Indonesian island of Borneo
Indonesian Navy personnel carry a bag containing the dead body of a passenger of AirAsia Flight 8501 at sea off the coast of Pangkalan Bun
Bodies of victims of AirAsia flight QZ8501 are kept inside body bags at the Indonesian navy vessel KRI Banda Aceh
Search teams hunting for the wreckage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 have had a breakthrough after discovering two big parts of the aircraft
Rescue workers searching for victims of AirAsia Flight 8501 pulled 21 bodies from the Java Sea yesterday, the largest number so far, including five that were still strapped into their seats
Though strong currents and big surf have prevented divers from entering waters to get a visual of the suspected fuselage, officials are hopeful they will find many of the passengers and crew inside, still strapped in their seats.
There were 162 people aboard the plane, but after a week of searching, only 30 bodies have been found floating in the choppy waters.
Devastated family members came together today at a tiny chapel in Surabaya - the city the flight departed from - where about 40 victims had been members.
The Rev. Philip Mantofa, who heads the congregation at Mawar Sharon Church urged those gathered to find comfort in their faith.
'If God has called your child, allow me to say this: Your child is not to be pitied,' Mantofa said. 'Your child is already in God's arms. One day, your family will be reunited in heaven.'
Minutes before losing contact an hour into the flight on December 28, the pilot told air traffic control he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic.
It remains unclear what caused the plane to plunge into the Java Sea near the island of Borneo, though bad weather appears to have been a factor, according to a 14-page report released by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
'Flight 8501 appears to have been trapped in bad weather that would have been difficult to avoid,' the report said.
It also said: 'The most probable weather phenomenon was icing that can cause engine damage,' The Australian reported.
The family members of Wismoyo Ari Prambudi, a flight attendant on board the doomed AirAsia flight gather around his coffin in Klaten, Indonesia
As many of 34 bodies of the disaster have so been recovered and the identification process is taking place so they can be returned to their families
The mother of flight attendant Wismoyo Ari Prambudi speaks to an AirAsia pilot as her son's coffin arrives at a funeral home
Indonesian Search and Rescue personnels wear mask as they prepare to receive victims of AirAsia crash
Rescue workers carry a basket containing passenger's luggage to be taken to Bhayangkara Police Hospital for identification procedure
Indonesian soldiers place a coffin containing victims in an ambulance to be taken for identification
The coffin carrying a victim, although not identified, has a floral tribute on top as a matter of respect
Members of Mawar Sharon church attend during a prayer service in Surabaya, Indonesia on Sunday
Around 40 of the victims on the plane were members of the church - about a quarter of its congregation
Family members hold their hands up in prayer as they remember those who lost their lives in the plane crash
The Rev. Philip Mantofa, who heads the congregation at Mawar Sharon Church urged those gathered to find comfort in their faith
Today's finds bring the total number of bodies recovered to 30. There were 162 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A320-200 when it fell from the skies on Sunday
After being recovered from the ocean the bodies are placed in numbered makeshift caskets at a hospital in Pangkalan Bun, Borneo, before being flown back to Indonesia
A Russian search and rescue team carry their equipment after arriving in a Russian BE-200 amphibious aircraft in Pangkalan Bun
Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency personnel prepare diving equipment to search victims of AirAsia QZ8501
Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency personnel prepare robot diver to search for victims of AirAsia QZ8501
A catastrophic incident caused by icing alone in a modern aircraft that is the size of the missing AirAsia flight has not occurred in the past 30 years.
Icing happens when moisture from the atmosphere during severe weather converts into ice and could possibly then be sucked into an engine.
If that ice turns back into liquid and goes on to freeze a second time, it can end up snapping off large pieces of an aircraft's turbine blades or getting into the plane's ignition.
While the plane's black boxes - the flight data and cockpit voice recorders - have yet to be located, the discovery of the wreckage, especially if it is largely intact, would greatly benefit the investigation.
Given Flight QZ8501 crashed in shallow seas, international experts - armed with sophisticated acoustic detection devices - say finding the boxes should not be difficult if its locator beacons, with a range of 2,000 to 3,000 metres and a battery life of about 30 days, are working.
The objects on the seafloor were discovered Friday and Saturday, and an Indonesian Geological Survey vessel was used to assess their dimensions, Mr Soelistyo said.
In addition to what appeared to be a significant part of the plane's body, chunks of debris found in the target search area measured up to 12 metres long.
Other suspected plane parts were seen scattered on beaches during an aerial survey, Mr Soelistyo said.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes (R) attending a funeral ceremony for Khairunisa, a flight attendant onboardthe fatal flight
Medical teams have collected information from relatives on the victims, including their appearance, birthmarks and any surgical scars, in an attempt to help identify the bodies
Bodies in makeshift caskets are loaded into a military transport plane in Borneo before being transported to a police hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia, where families have gathered
Tributes to Hendra Gunawan Sawal, who was on board the flight, as family members held a prayer ceremony
Relatives of 22-year-old Kevin Alexander Soetjipto (22 year-old), at a cremation ceremony in Lawang today
Relatives and friends of Kevin Alexander Soetjipto pay tribute by his coffin, covered in hundreds of petals
A priest reads a passage during a cremation ceremony for Kevin Alexander Soetjipto in Lawang earlier today
Indonesian authorities announced the grounding of AirAsia flights from Surabaya to Singapore, with the Transport Ministry saying the airline did not have a permit to fly on Sundays.
But Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority said Saturday that from its end, the airline had been approved to fly the route daily.
AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region's most popular low-cost carriers, said it was reviewing the suspension. The crash was the airline's first.
Strong currents and towering waves as high as 4 metres have slowed recovery efforts, scattering bodies and debris in all directions. The discoveries so far include an emergency exit door and slide, as well as a backpack with food and a camera inside.
As part of the investigation into the crash, autopsies will be carried out on some of the bodies, including the pilot and co-pilot, whose remains have not yet been recovered, East Java's Disaster Victim Identification unit's Budiyono, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said.
A medical worker moves among the corpses at a makeshift morgue inside the police hospital in Surabaya, where the victims are taken for their relatives to identify
Around a third of the bodies found today were located by an American ship, the USS Sampson. Here American Navy personnel help unload corpses from a helicopter
Dive teams have been left frustrated after bad weather severely hampered search efforts, but today's operation has tripled the number of corpses recovered
Another body is unloaded from a US Navy Seahawk helicopter during the search and rescue mission today
Members of an Indonesian search and rescue team carry items for investigation, found during the search
Part of the plane found among the wreckage of the AirAsia flight in recovery mission in waters off Borneo
Indonesian air force members prepare their rescue equipment before departing for a search and rescue operation over Pumai Bay, Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia
Crew members of Indonesian Air Force NAS 332 Super Puma helicopter look out of windows during search
Generally, aviation experts say the more passengers, luggage and parts of the aircraft that remain intact, the more likely the plane hit the water in one piece.
That would signal problems like a mechanical error or a stall instead of a midair breakup due to an explosion or sudden depressurization.
For family members, the wait has been agonising, with local media covering every development and theory, many of which have proved to be untrue - including a false report that a body was found wearing a life jacket, which would have indicated passengers had time to prepare for the impact or miraculously were able to put them on after hitting the water.
With more corpses arriving in Surabaya, some relatives said they were simply worn out. But they were encouraged by reports that parts of the plane had been detected and hoped that everyone on board would be retrieved.
'Let's hope the news is true,' Ongko Gunawan, whose sister was on the flight with her husband and their child, said.
'We need to move on.'
On Friday, recovery teams pulled 21 bodies from the Java Sea.
Three bodies have been identified today, including that of Grayson Herbert Linaksita, an 11-year-old boy who has been reunited with his relatives
The family of Grayson Linaksita break down in tears as the body of the 11-year-old boy is handed to them
The body of an air stewardess, Khairunisa Binti Haidar Fauzi, was also among the three identified today
There were more emotional scenes at the police hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia, today as bodies of those who died were identified and handed over for burial
Kevin Alexander Soetjipto was the third passenger to be identified from dental records today, after the first passenger Hayati Lutfiah Hamid was identified yesterday
Vessels involved in the search for debris included at least eight sophisticated navy ships from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and the U.S. equipped with sonars for scouring the seabed to pinpoint the all-important black boxes and the wreckage.
A second U.S. Navy ship arrived on Saturday to help in the search.
The hope, officials say, is that the body of the plane will still be largely intact, speeding the investigation.
'Many of the passengers believed to be still trapped inside the plane's fuselage and could be discovered soon,' Supriyadi said.
'God willing, we will complete this operation next week.'
The news four objects have been found in the ocean come after emotional scenes of three more victims who were identified being handed over to their families for burial at Surabaya hospital.
They included 11-year-old boy Grayson Herbert Linaksita and 22-year-old Khairunisa Binti Haidar Fauzi, an air hostess with AirAsia.
Of the bodies pulled from the ocean, about a third were found by American vessel USS Sampson, while five were strapped into their seats according to Colonel Yayan Sofiyan, commander of warship Bung Tomo.
Relatives of Hendra Gunawan Syawal, victim of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash pray near his coffin at Adi Yasa funeral home in Surabaya, Indonesia
Workers carry the coffin of Meiji Thejakusuma, into Adi Yasa funeral home
The mother of Hendra Gunawan Syawal prays near her son's coffin at Adi Yasa funeral home
He added: 'From the operational side, the human factor, the technical side, the ATC (air traffic control) - everything is valuable to us.'
Drizzle and light clouds covered the area this morning, and rain, strong winds and high waves up to 13ft were forecast until Sunday. Strong sea currents have also kept debris moving.
The plane went down last Sunday about 40 minutes into a flight from Surabaya to Singapore.
Minutes before disappearing from radar, the pilot told air traffic control he was approaching a storm, but was denied permission to climb above it because of heavy air traffic.
While the actual cause is unknown, one expert has theorised that the pilot managed to land the plane successfully on the ocean, before it was overwhelmed by waves and sank.
Indonesian Air Force personnel carry suspected debris after it was delivered by helicopter from a recovery mission for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 at the airport in Pangkalan Bun yesterday
Indonesian Airforce personnel recovered more debris from the plane on January 2
Relatives of AirAsia passengers arrive at East Java Police headquarters to help identify the victims
Relatives of Juanita Limantara, one of the victims of the crashed AirAsia airplane, during a ceremony for the families in Surabaya, Indonesia
Dudi Sudibyo, senior editor of aviation magazine Angkasa, said that emergency locator transmitters fitted to the plane were primed to go off in the event of a strong impact, but never triggered.
He says that if the captain, who was an experience pilot, managed to land safely before the craft sank, this could explain why no signal was transmitted.
However, other experts, examining radar data leaked from the investigation, disagreed.
Instead they said the plane was batted from the skies by immensely powerful winds that caused it to rise up at the same rate as a fighter jet, before dropping almost vertically into the ocean.
Their conclusion is that the Airbus 320-200 was in the grip of weather so freakishly extreme that there was nothing the pilots could have done to save the jet and all 162 people on board.
The plane behaved in ways ‘bordering on the edge of logic,’ Indonesian aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman said after examining figures leaked from the official air crash investigation team.
But Mr Soejatman said the jet climbed at a speed that would have been impossible for the pilot to have achieved - and then plunged straight down ‘like a piece of metal being thrown down.'
‘It’s really hard to comprehend…the way it goes down is bordering on the edge of logic.’
Australian aviation expert, Peter Marosszeky, from the University of NSW, told the Sydney Morning Herald that, in contrast, he was baffled by the extremely low speed of the descent - as low as 61 knots - which would suggest the plane was heading almost straight down, explaining why it has been found in water just 10km from its last point of radar contact.
Lt. Col. Johnson Simanjuntak of Indonesian Commander Air Field Iskandar Pangkalan Bun shows off parts of a plane found floating on the water near the site where AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared
Indonesian Air Force personnel carry suspected debris after it was delivered by helicopter from a recovery mission
Experts examining flight data leaked from the AirAsia crash investigation said the plane behaved in ways 'bordering on the edge of logic' after rising thousands of feet into the air before falling almost vertically
Both experts are in agreement that the jet went down almost vertically - and also concluded that a freak weather pattern that placed the aircraft under extraordinary forces was to blame for its plight.
Mr Soejatman meanwhile remains convinced that the reason for the crash is possibly because the aircraft was caught in a severe updraft, followed by an equally severe ground draft.
He said that leaked figures showed the plane climbed at a virtually unprecedented rate of 6000ft to 9000ft per minute and ‘you can’t do that at altitude in an Airbus 320 with pilot action.’
The most that could normally be expected, he said, would be 1000ft to 1500ft on a sustained basis, gaining 3000ft in a burst.
But then the aircraft fell at an even more incredible rate of 11,000ft a minute, with extraordinary bursts of up to 24,000ft a minute - figures higher than the Air France A330 Airbus that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, killing 228 passengers after attaining baffling ascent and descent rates.
Mr Marosszeky agreed that a climb rate of at least 6000ft a minute would indicate a ‘severe weather event,’ because that rate of climb was a ‘domain for jet fighters.’
In a fascinating, yet worrying, comment earlier in the week, AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes suggested that climate change was making weather worse and flying riskier,
rticularly in the tropics.
Meanwhile Mr Fernandes promised that he would fly with the family of flight QZ8501 and the body of stewardess Ms Khairunnisa to her home town in Palembang, Indonesia, once her body has been positively identified.
The stewardess was still in her red AirAsia uniform when she was recovered.
In a tweet, Mr Fernandes said that ‘if our beautiful and wonderful crew (member) is identified, we will go from Surabaya to Palembang with her parents. Heartbreaking soul (destroyed).’
AirAsia flight QZ8501: Crucial black boxes may not be found with wreckage after plane 'split or cracked' during crash
Officials think they have located the fuselage of the Airbus A320 using sonar – but no flight recorder 'pings' have been heard
Adam Withnall
Sunday 04 January 2015
Divers searching for the wreckage of the crash AirAsia passenger jet may be no nearer to finding its crucial black box flight recorders, officials say, even if they have located the body of the plane using sonar.
Five large objects have been found at the bottom of the Java Sea about 90 nautical miles off the coast of Borneo, and experts believe them to be parts of the Airbus A320-200 that plunged into the sea on route from Surabaya to Singapore last Sunday.
At about 18 metres (59 feet) long, the largest piece suspected to be the fuselage of the plane – but bad weather and strong currents have prevented searchers from making the relatively shallow 30-metre dive to verify this.
Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said the focus now was to reach that fuselage, where many bodies could still be strapped in to seats. “Our priority is to dive in the location we suspect parts of the plane to be,” he said.
But Soelistyo said none of the ships searching the area have detected any “pings” – locator signals sent out by black boxes in the event of a crash.
The flight recorders store critical data from the plane’s diagnostic systems, as well as up to two hours of audio from the cockpit, and represent the best chance for investigators to determine what happened to flight QZ8501.
Air Force Lt Col Johnson Supriyadi, a search and rescue official co-ordinating the operation, said it now looked like the boxes, located in the tail of the plane, had broken away from the rest of the wreckage.
"Based on the finding of pieces of debris it looks like the body of the aircraft split or cracked and was separated from its tail," he said.
Until the black boxes are found, the cause of the crash remains a mystery. BMKG, Indonesia's meteorological agency, has said bad weather may have caused ice to form on the aircraft's engines.
"The flight document provided by the BMKG office shows fairly worrying weather conditions for the aircraft at cruising level on the chosen route," the agency said in a 14-page report.
'No victim has been found wearing a life jacket', official says
Search teams have recovered 34 bodies from the 162 passengers and crew on board the plane in eight days.
The crash was the first fatal accident suffered by the AirAsia budget group, whose Indonesian affiliate flies from at least 15 destinations across the sprawling archipelago.
The airline has come under pressure from Indonesian authorities, who have suspended its Surabaya to Singapore operations saying the carrier only had a licence to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Indonesia AirAsia said it would co-operate with the transport ministry while it investigates the licence.
A joint statement from Singapore's civil aviation authority (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group said that AirAsia had the necessary approvals to operate a daily flight between Surabaya and Singapore.
AirAsia plane forced to turn back; Tony Fernandes says fault not caused by stalled engine
Updated about an hour ago Mon 5 Jan 2015, 4:24am
AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes Photo: AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said the latest incident was not caused by a stalled engine. (Reuters/Romeo Ranoco)
AirAsia has downplayed an incident that saw one of its planes turned back before take-off in Indonesia, a week after another of its jets crashed into the Java Sea with 162 on board.
Indonesia AirAsia flight 7633 was taxiing in preparation for take-off at Surabaya airport, where last week's doomed flight also took off, when a power unit used to start the plane shut down, an airline official said.
As a result, the pilot turned back to the gate, said Raden Achmad Sadikin, the director of Safety and Security at Indonesia AirAsia.
Local media in Indonesia and Malaysia had reported the Bandung-bound plane's engine had cut out after emitting a loud bang that terrified passengers, but AirAsia stressed it was a minor incident.
"It's not that the engine failed. The plane wanted to take off but the APU [auxiliary power unit], which is the equipment that helped to start the engine, suddenly shut down," Mr Sadikin said.
The plane later landed safely at its destination in West Java after undergoing a check, Indonesia AirAsia chief executive Sunu Widyatmoko was quoted by local media as saying.
AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes lashed out at the initial media reports, calling the headlines "sensational" and "silly".
Mr Fernandes urged staff to remain strong.
"Facts will come out. As I have said we are calm, will take the hits now as our focus is families. But time will show what AirAsia is all about," he tweeted.
Divers resume search for missing jet
Meanwhile, Indonesian officials said weather was the "triggering factor" in last week's crash of AirAsia flight 8501, with icing likely causing engine damage after the plane flew into a storm.
Calmer waters enabled Indonesian navy divers on Monday to resume efforts to identify suspected wreckage from the missing passenger jet.
The main focus of the search is about 90 nautical miles off the coast of Borneo island, where five large objects believed to be parts of the plane - the largest about 18 metres long - have been pinpointed in shallow waters by ships using sonar.
No signal has been detected yet from the black box recorders.
The seas haven't been very friendly, but the black boxes have a 30-day life and they will be able to find them.
Aviation expert Peter Marosszeky
Both flight recorders are located near the tail of the Airbus, but it was unclear whether that part of the aircraft was among the debris found on the seabed.
"The weather is quite conducive. The visibility is six kilometres, there's no low cloud, the wind is calm," Air Force lieutenant colonel Jhonson Supriadi said.
"With our calculations of currents this strong, every day this operational area is extended."
Peter Marosszeky, a senior aviation research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said the weather was squarely to blame for the delay in finding the black box recorders, which are designed to emit pings that can be detected by sonar for a month after a crash.
"The seas haven't been very friendly, but the black boxes have a 30-day life and they will be able to find them, particularly in the shallow waters," he said.
"It's the weather that is causing the delay."
Thirty-four bodies of the mostly Indonesian passengers and crew have so far been recovered.
The crash was the first fatal accident suffered by the Malaysia-based budget carrier, whose Indonesian affiliate flies from at least 15 destinations across the sprawling archipelago.
AFP/Reuters
exactly tonychat no chat
‘Don’t blame my father,’ AirAsia captain’s daughter pleads as search for crashed plane widens
PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 January, 2015, 11:17am
UPDATED : Monday, 05 January, 2015, 5:36pm
Reuters in Pangkalan Bun
Crew of Indonesian Air Force C-130 airplane of the 31st Air Squadron scan the horizon during a search operation for the missing AirAsia flight 8501 over the waters of Karimata Strait in Indonesia. Photo: AP
The daughter of AirAsia flight QZ8501's captain made a televised plea urging people not to blame her father over the tragedy, as searchers resumed hunting for the wreckage and black boxes that would reveal why the plane crashed.
“He is just a victim and has not been found yet. My family is now mourning,” said Angela Anggi Ranastianis, daughter of Indonesia AirAsia pilot Captain Iriyanto.
“As a daughter, I cannot accept it. No pilot will harm his passengers,” she told TV One. When news broke of the plane's disappearance last month, the girl posted on social media: "Papa, come back. I still need you."
In his last communication, experienced former air force pilot Iriyanto said he wanted to change course to avoid the menacing storm system - then all contact was lost about 40 minutes after take-off.
Indonesian navy divers took advantage of calmer waters today to resume efforts to identify suspected wreckage from the missing AirAsia jet after five large objects were spotted on sonar.
But there was with no signal detected yet from the black box recorders as the search entered its eighth day.
Ships and aircraft seeking debris and bodies from the crashed AirbusA320-200 widened their search area amid strong currents. Helicopters will search coastal areas.
A search team unloads a rubber boat from their ship during a search operation. Photo: AP
Thirty-four bodies have so far been retrieved from the Java Sea, including some still strapped to their seats, and have been brought to shore in simple, numbered coffins. None of the 162 passengers and crew onboard survived.
Indonesia’s military chief General Moeldoko said today he had offered to take victims’ relatives out to the crash site to pay their respects.
“We will bring them to the navy ships and we will take them to the location to scatter flowers, and I hope coming to the location can reduce their sadness and the feeling of loss,” he told reporters.
The main focus of the search is about 90 nautical miles off the coast of Borneo island, where objects – the largest about 18 metres long and believed to be the fuselage – have been pinpointed in shallow waters by ships using sonar.
“The weather is quite conducive. The visibility is six kilometres, there’s no low cloud, the wind is calm,” Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jhonson Supriadi said. “With our calculations of currents this strong, every day this operational area is extended.”
Sailors from the US Navy's USS Fort Worth help in the search. Photo: Reuters
Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said seasonal tropical storms probably contributed to the January 28 crash, with icing likely causing engine damage after it flew into a storm.
The weather has persistently hampered efforts to recover bodies and find the cockpit voice and flight data recorders that should explain why the plane crashed.
Both flight recorders are located near the tail of the Airbus, but it was unclear whether that part of the aircraft was among the debris found on the seabed.
Peter Marosszeky, a senior aviation research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said the weather was squarely to blame for the delay in finding the black box recorders, which are designed to emit pings that can be detected by sonar for a month after a crash.
“The seas haven’t been very friendly, but the black boxes have a 30-day life and they will be able to find them, particularly in the shallow waters,” he said. “It’s the weather that is causing the delay.”
“If it cannot be done by divers, we will use sophisticated equipment with capabilities of tracking underwater objects and then will lift them up,” said Suryadi B. Supriyadi, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue director of operations.
Nine ships from four countries have converged on the area, with teams of divers including seven Russian experts standing ready, but strong winds and four-metre high waves have kept progress agonisingly slow.
The crash was the first fatal accident suffered by the AirAsia budget group, whose Indonesian affiliate flies from at least 15 destinations across the sprawling archipelago.
Crews of search and rescue carry a body bag containing the victim of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 from a Singapore Navy helicopter at Iskandar Air Base, Pangkalan Bun. Photo: Xinhua
The airline, which is 49 per cent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, has come under pressure from Indonesian authorities, who have suspended its Surabaya to Singapore operations saying the carrier only had a licence to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Indonesia AirAsia said it would co-operate with the transport ministry while it investigates the licence.
However, Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority said that from its end, the airline had been approved to fly the route daily.
On Sunday, an AirAsia flight scheduled to depart from Surabaya airport turned back when a power unit used to start the plane shut down, emitting a loud bang that terrified passengers,
But AirAsia stressed it was a minor incident and that it was a power, not engine, failure. The plane later landed safely at its destination in West Java after undergoing a check, Indonesia AirAsia chief executive Sunu Widyatmoko said.
With additional reporting from AP and AFP
Indonesian navy locates AirAsia tail section likely to contain black boxes
Patrol vessel locates what the captain said could be the tail of the missing AirAsia jet, the section where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located
PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 January, 2015, 6:05pm
UPDATED : Monday, 05 January, 2015, 6:47pm
Reuters in Pangkalan Bun
A piece believed to be part of the tailplane from AirAsia Flight 8501 is shown at the Indonesian Navy's Eastern Fleet Naval Base in Surabaya. Photo: AP
An Indonesian naval patrol vessel found on Monday what the captain said could be the tail of the missing AirAsia jet, the section where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located.
Ships and aircraft seeking debris and bodies from the Airbus A320-200 widened their search area to allow for currents eight days after Flight QZ8501 plunged into the water en route from Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lEuKWeR6c6w?rel=0&showinfo=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
“We found what has a high probability of being the tail of the plane,” Yayan Sofyan, captain of the patrol vessel, told reporters. However, the Indonesian search and rescue agency is yet to confirm the discovery.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said seasonal tropical storms probably contributed to the December 28 crash and the weather has persistently hampered efforts to recover bodies and find the cockpit voice and flight data recorders that should explain why the plane crashed into the sea.
The main focus of the search is about 90 nautical miles off the coast of Borneo island, where five large objects believed to be parts of the plane - the largest about 18 metres long – have been pinpointed in shallow waters by ships using sonar.
Peter Marosszeky, a senior aviation research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said the weather was squarely to blame for the delay in finding the black box recorders, which are designed to emit pings that can be detected by sonar for a month after a crash.
Parts of AirAsia QZ8501 recovered from the Java Sea are offloaded from a US Navy helicopter in Pangkalan Bun. Photo: Reuters
“The seas haven’t been very friendly, but the black boxes have a 30-day life and they will be able to find them, particularly in the shallow waters,” he said. “It’s the weather that is causing the delay.”
Indonesia AirAsia, which is 49 per cent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, has come under pressure from authorities who have suspended its Surabaya-Singapore licence, saying the carrier only had permission to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Flight QZ8501 took off on a Sunday.
It was not immediately clear what difference, if any, the day of the week had on the December 28 flight, and Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation, made clear that the investigations of the route and the crash were separate.
“Please differentiate between the probe into flight licenses and the air crash investigation,” he said, adding, however, that any other airline that flew on a day it did not have permission to do so would have its licence frozen.
“AirAsia is clearly wrong because they didn’t fly at a time and schedule that was already determined,” Murjatmodjo told reporters. “...we hope to finish investigation soon on whether anything went wrong.”
A joint statement from Singapore’s civil aviation authority and Changi Airport Group said that AirAsia had the necessary approvals to operate a daily flight between Surabaya and Singapore.
Nine ships from four countries have converged on the crash site area, with teams of divers including seven Russian experts standing ready, but strong winds and four-metre high waves have kept progress agonisingly slow.
Rescue crews carry a body bag containing victim of the AirAsia crash at Iskandar Air Force Base, Pangkalan Bun. Photo: Xinhua
Thirty-four bodies of the mostly Indonesian passengers and crew have so far been recovered, including some still strapped in their seats. Many more may be still trapped in the body of the aircraft.
The crash was the first fatal accident suffered by the AirAsia budget group, whose Indonesian affiliate flies from at least 15 destinations across the sprawling archipelago.
AirAsia QZ8501 victims` families offered visit to search site: Moeldoko
Senin, 5 Januari 2015 20:52 WIB
Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Military Commander General Moeldoko has offered the families of AirAsia flight QZ8501 crash victims an opportunity to visit the search and evacuation site in a bid to provide solace to the grieving kin.
"I offer and welcome them if they want to visit the location. This is what we can do to help the families to help allay their grief," General Moeldoko remarked here on Monday.
Military Commander General Moeldoko visited the crisis center at the East Java Police headquarters in Surabaya, East Java, to meet and offer his condolences to the families of AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashs victims.
He explained that his decision to offer the families a view of the search site was purely based on humanitarian grounds, and he had no intentions to impose it on them.
General Moeldoko said the Indonesian Military will provide Hercules C-190 and CN-295 aircraft to carry the families from Juanda Airport, East Java, to Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan.
From Pangkalan Bun, they will visit the central search site of AirAsia flight QZ8501 on board a marine military vessel.
"We welcome all the families to visit, and we will prepare the departure soon. One more time, maybe we can ease their grief through this way," he affirmed.
Moeldoko also confirmed that his personnel will partake in the search and evacuation operations of AirAsia flight QZ8501 in accordance with the National SAR Agency (Basarnas) as the coordinator.
The Indonesian Military has currently deployed seven marine vessels: Bung Tomo-357, Yos Sudarso-353, Rengat-711, Sultan Hasanuddin-366, Sungai Gerong-906, Usman Harun-359, and Frans Kaisiepo-368.
The Usman Harun-359 and Frans Kaisiepo-368 vessels were deployed in the search location on Sunday (Jan. 4) to reinforce the operations team and also to replace the Bung Tomo-357 vessel, which had joined the operations since December 29, 2014.
Besides the marine vessels, the Indonesian Air Force has also deployed two C-130 Hercules aircraft, a Boeing 737 Surveillance aircraft, and two Super Puma helicopters to search for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
Indonesia AirAsia violated flight route rules: Transportation Ministry
Senin, 5 Januari 2015 20:47 WIB
Photo document of Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501 registered code PK-AXC. (indoflyer.net)
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Director General of Air Transportation confirmed that Indonesia AirAsia had violated flight route rules agreed by both parties.
"Based on the foreign airlines permit for the winter period 2014-2015 for the Surabaya to Singapore route communicated to AirAsia via letter number AU/008/30/6/DRJU/DAU on October 24, 2014, AirAsia had proposed flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (day code: 1,2,4, 6)," Djoko Murdjatmodjo, Indonesias acting director general of air transportation, remarked in a press conference here on Monday.
However, Djoko noted that AirAsia flight QZ8501 was operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays (day code: 1,3,5,7).
"Based on our identification, Indonesia AirAsia has violated flight path rules because the airline did not have a license to fly the Surabaya to Singapore route on Sundays. Therefore, the ministry has suspended Indonesia AirAsia flights on the Surabaya-to-Singapore route," he emphasized.
Djoko confirmed that AirAsia had submitted a request to operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
"We had agreed to AirAsias request," he said.
He explained that AirAsia should submit an official schedule, which was given to the origin and destination airports, and should be immediately adjusted to the slot accordingly.
If the days are not suitable, then the airline must apply for a revision regarding its operations with the directorate general of air transportation, he added.
"But, until now, the revised petition has yet to be submitted to us. So, the schedule was not considered a problem," he stated.
During the summer period, Djoko admitted that AirAsia had followed a daily schedule by operating on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays on the Surabaya-Singapore route
"Has the revised schedule for the winter period been reported to Singapore? AirAsia should also be questioned about it," he noted.
Regarding the flight slots, Djoko clarified that Indonesia and Singapore had already provided seven days for AirAsia through the information given by the Indonesian Slot Coordinator (IDSC) for domestic slots and Garuda Indonesia for international slots.
However, he explained that Indonesia AirAsia had permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on four days a week, and the provision was determined based on the request submitted by the airline.
"Before applying for the permit, the airline must have slot permission, and it must fit between the departure and arrival times. Then, the license is issued. This must be agreed by both parties," he remarked.
Djoko explained that the conveyance rights are stipulated in the agreement of bilateral relations, and Singapore Air did not require the authorization of the Indonesian civil aviation authorities.
Regarding surveillance of airport authorities on the operator, Djoko will conduct an audit of the related parties involved in the negligence.
"We will investigate the negligence and check the role of the airport authority," he said.
Earlier, a Japanese ship and helicopter that joined the Indonesian search and rescue operations for the AirAsia QZ8501 flight will move to the search area on Tuesday.
The Japanese Embassy stated in a press statement here on Monday that the helicopter belonging to the Japanese Self Defense Forces (JSDF) will depart from Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, to the JSDF ship already deployed in the waters of Karimata Strait.
The search and rescue operations have entered the ninth day on Monday. On Sunday, the rescuers found four dead victims of the ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501.
As of Sunday evening, the number of bodies already retrieved from the crash site had reached 34. All of them have been flown to Surabaya, East Java, for the identification process by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.
(Uu.A063/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
AirAsia QZ8501 victim family learnt of fate through 'selfie' taken aboard doomed flight
Haunting image taken aboard flight QZ8501 as it prepared for takeoff emerges as Indonesia's navy says it has found an object that is "probably" the tail of the missing plane
A picture on a mobile phone shows Hendra Gunawan Sawal onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 Photo: AFP/Getty
By Andrew Marszal, and Jonathan Pearlman, Jakarta
2:27PM GMT 05 Jan 2015
The family of a victim of the AirAsia crash learnt of their loved one’s fate after being sent a “selfie” he had taken on board the doomed flight.
The haunting image, taken aboard flight QZ8501 as it prepared for takeoff, emerged as Indonesia’s navy said it has found an object that is “probably” the tail of the missing plane, raising hopes that the remaining bodies and the plane’s black box will soon be recovered.
A cheerful-looking Hendra Gunawan Syawal, 23, had taken the photograph with three friends aboard the Airbus A320 just an hour before it plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board.
Yunita Syawal, who had already heard news of the flight’s disappearance when she was sent the image of her brother, had not known he was due to fly that day. But a call to her parents confirmed her worst fears.
“I immediately flew to Surabaya,” she said. Six days later, she helped to identify his body.
“Even after days, we still kept thinking he’s alive, but now that we have seen his body, we know he’s gone for sure,” said Yunita. “There is a void left in my heart, but I hope in time I will heal.”
So far, only 37 bodies have been found, including three located by searchers on Monday.
Colonel Yayan Sofyan, a patrol boat captain, said the navy had found a section of the aircraft that resembled the tail.
“We found what has a high probability of being the tail of the plane,” he said.
Hendra Gunawan Sawal
Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said the object was “suspected” of being the tail but was yet to be confirmed.
“I am not saying it’s the tail yet,” he said. “That is suspected. Now we are trying to confirm it.”
Indonesia’s government has suspended the air traffic controllers who oversaw the flight and ordered all pilots to undergo pre-flight briefings on handling emergencies.
Djoko Murjatmodjo, the acting head of air transport in Indonesia’s transportation ministry, said he has suspended all officials from air-traffic control, the airport operator and the airport aviation office who were on duty in the city of Surabaya when the doomed flight departed eight days ago.
The flight from Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control shortly after the pilot requested permission to ascend from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid a storm.
Ignatius Jonan, Indonesia’s transport minister, has accused AirAsia of operating the flight without permission to fly the route on Sundays, while Mr Murjatmodjo has indicated that airport officials may have acted illegally.
An internal review of Indonesia’s aviation agency is seeking to identify who approved the flight.
“A circular has been signed by the transport ministry on December 31, stating that pilots must have a face-to-face briefing with a flight operation officer so the briefing officer will know the pilot is in a healthy condition and so on,” Mr Murjatmodjo said.
Indonesian pilots criticised the proposed briefings, saying they would be unworkable.
The search for the plane has been hampered by continued heavy weather off the southern coast of Borneo.
The recovery of three further bodies brought the total to 37. Thirteen have been identified.
Five large objects have been picked up by sonar scans of the ocean floor in the search zone but the largest has now been found to be a shipwreck. No pings have yet been detected from the plane’s black box locator beacon.
However, authorities remain hopeful of finding the wreckage of the plane – believed to contain many of the remaining bodies – as the weather is due to ease in the coming days. More than 100 Indonesian and Russian divers are in the search zone, waiting to identify the objects picked up by scans but underwater visibility has been one feet or less.
Indonesia’s weather agency has blamed the crash on the heavy weather which caused icing and damaged the engines. However, numerous aviation experts have suggested this is an unlikely standalone cause of the crash because the Airbus A320 has effective anti-icing devices.
AirAsia search heads underwater
Date January 6, 2015 - 4:21PM
Michael Bachelard
Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Indonesian Sea and Coast Guard officers on Tuesday carry remains of seats from the AirAsia flight. Photo: Getty
Jakarta: The focus of the search for AirAsia QZ8501 has turned underwater, as rescue crews now believe there is less chance of finding bodies floating free of the plane's wreckage.
Bambang Soelistyo, the chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency Basarnas, said on Tuesday the weather on the 10th morning of the search was "quite friendly to us", which marks a break from a run of bad weather.
It means dive teams and underwater robotic vehicles may be able to descend to where the wreckage is believed to be.
Remains of seats from the AirAsia QZ8501 crash, recovered from Indonesian waters.
Remains of seats from the AirAsia QZ8501 crash, recovered from Indonesian waters. Photo: Getty
Mr Soelistyo said five ships, some with divers on board, had been dispatched to a smaller search area, known as the "second additional area", where sonar earlier in the week spotted objects up to 18 metres long, believed to be part of the wreckage.
They will look again for fuselage parts and the black box flight recorder.
No bodies were found overnight in the open ocean, so the tally stands at 37.
"We believe some of the victims are still trapped inside the plane's body," Mr Soelistyo said.
"We evacuated the bodies that popped up and were floating on the waters earlier because we were afraid that they might be carried out further by the current and we would miss them. But now, if we are just searching for victims trapped inside the plane, the job will be easier."
Reports emerged from Surabaya that AirAsia was offering a 300 million rupiah ($29,000) initial compensation package to the families of crash victims, but people contacted by Fairfax Media said money had not been discussed with them.
AirAsia has not so far issued any comment.
AirAsia QZ8501 victim's family haunted by final birthday wish
The Meiji Thejakusuma joked to her family she would "spend time alone at sea" on her birthday as she said goodbye to relatives before boarding AirAsia's Flight QZ8501
A relative of Meiji Thejakusuma shows a photo of the woman with her family Photo: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images
Meiji Thejakusuma with her family Photo: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images
Workers carry the coffin of Meiji Thejakusuma Photo: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images
By AFP
8:59AM GMT 06 Jan 2015
When fashion store owner The Meiji Thejakusuma bid goodbye to relatives before boarding AirAsia's Flight 8501, she light-heartedly quipped she would "spend time alone at sea" on her birthday, which she planned to mark with a New Year's cruise.
Soon after the plane crashed into waters off the island of Borneo and her body was recovered from the Java Sea.
On January 3, when Thejakusuma would have turned 45 on the celebratory cruise visiting Malaysia and Thailand, instead her body was returned to her extended family in Surabaya.
Her nephew Eric Edi Santo, a café owner, relayed his aunt's haunting last words to him as he spoke to AFP at the funeral parlour where a vigil was being held, attended by abound 100 friends and relatives.
"We asked her how are you going to celebrate your birthday. She said jokingly: 'I'll spend time alone at sea'," Santo said.
"Maybe God was trying to be good to her, and didn't want her to spend her birthday alone at sea, so he brought her back."
Thejakusuma got on the plane in her home city of Surabaya on December 28 with her husband, mother, three children and prospective son-in-law.
They were headed for Singapore where they would start their cruise, but 40 minutes later disaster struck and the aircraft crashed into the water.
The bodies of Thejakusuma and her 10-year-old daughter Stevie are among the 37 that have so far been recovered, with teams still searching for the remains of the other 125 passengers, most of them Indonesian.
They included Thejakusuma's 48-year-old husband Jie Charly Gunawan, her mother Jo Indri, 82, and her two other children, 19-year-old Steven and Stephanie, 28.
Stephanie's fiancé Christanto Leoma Hutama was also with them.
"We hope for a survivor ... at least just one of them. I hope that one of them can come back alive," Santo said.
"If not, we hope that all of their bodies at least will be here, we don't want any missing bodies. They died so tragically, at least I want them to have a proper burial."
Thejakusuma was the owner of clothes store "Planet One" in Surabaya, and was known for being hard-working and humble despite her own affluence, said another of her nephews, Agus Panjaya.
A devout Buddhist, she regularly made financial contributions to her local temple as well as to orphanages, and she was always quick to help her relatives.
Panjaya recalled when he was still at high school and living in a dormitory in the East Java city of Malang, when his aunt and uncle would take turns to drive two hours at weekends to visit him and take him sightseeing around the city.
"They did not want me to feel lonely," he said.
"It was in my aunt's character to just help people whenever she could, poor people, her own family, anyone. That's why everyone feels a deep sense of loss."
What is still not known about the AirAsia QZ8501 crash
Dozens of bodies have been recovered from AirAsia QZ8501, and search teams have detected what is believed to be the plane's wreckage, but many questions remain unanswered
An Indonesian officer shows a safety instruction card recovered during search operations in the Java sea Photo: Xinhua News/Rex
By AP
11:00AM GMT 06 Jan 2015
What caused the plane to go down?
The pilot told air traffic control he was approaching threatening clouds and asked to climb above them, from 9,750 meters (32,000 feet) to 11,580 meters (38,000 feet). But with six other planes in the same airspace, permission was denied. When the tower tried to make contact four minutes later, there was no response, and the Airbus A320 was gone from the radar. The investigation will hinge on the discovery of the black boxes and the wreckage itself.
Where are the black boxes?
With high surf preventing the deployment of ships that drag "ping" locators, no signals have been detected from the aircraft's all-important cockpit voice and flight data recorders. Both will provide essential information, including the plane's vertical and horizontal speeds along with engine temperature and final conversations between the captain and co-pilot. The black boxes' ping-emitting beacons still have around 20 days before their batteries go dead.
Where are the bodies and debris?
A massive international search effort involving planes, ships and helicopters continues despite heavy rain, high waves and strong currents. So far, only around three dozen bodies have been recovered, some still strapped into their seats. Sonar has identified what is believed to be five large parts of the plane on the seabed, but rough conditions along with m&d and silt have kept divers from getting a clear visual on it.
Was the plane authorised to fly?
Indonesia has launched an investigation into AirAsia's operating practices after alleging the low-cost carrier did not have permits to fly from Surabaya to Singapore on Sundays, the day the plane crashed. All of the carrier's flights on that route have since been canceled. The Transportation Ministry also has suspended officials who allowed the plane to fly without authorization, including the Surabaya airport's operator and officials in the control tower. AirAsia has declined to comment until the evaluation is completed.
Family haunted by AirAsia victim’s last quip that she would spend birthday ‘alone at sea’
Relative says the family is haunted by Meiji Thejakusuma's last words before boarding the plane with her husband and children
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 06 January, 2015, 3:51pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 06 January, 2015, 6:10pm
Agence France-Presse in Surabaya
Extended family in Surabaya mourn for Meiji Thejakusama, who joked she would spend her birthday alone at sea. Photo: EPA
When fashion store owner The Meiji Thejakusuma bid goodbye to relatives before boarding AirAsia Flight 8501, she light-heartedly quipped she would “spend time alone at sea” on her birthday, which she planned to mark with a New Year cruise.
Soon after, the plane crashed into waters off the island of Borneo. Her body was recovered from the Java Sea days later.
Her nephew Eric Edi Santo, a cafe owner, recalled his aunt’s haunting last words during Thejakusuma’s vigil at a funeral home, attended by abound 100 friends and relatives.
“We asked her how are you going to celebrate your birthday. She said jokingly: ‘I’ll spend time alone at sea’,” Santo said.
“Maybe God was trying to be good to her, and didn’t want her to spend her birthday alone at sea, so he brought her back.”
On January 3, when Thejakusuma would have turned 45 on the celebratory cruise visiting Malaysia and Thailand, her body was instead returned to her extended family in Surabaya.
Thejakusuma got on the plane in her home city of Surabaya on December 28 with her husband, mother, three children and prospective son-in-law.
They were headed for Singapore where they would start their cruise, but 40 minutes later disaster struck and the aircraft crashed into the water.
Stephanie Gunawan (above), Thejakusuma's daughter, was on the same flight with her fiance. Photo: Facebook
The bodies of Thejakusuma and her 10-year-old daughter Stevie are among the 37 that have so far been recovered, with teams still searching for the remains of the other 125 passengers, most of them Indonesian.
They included Thejakusuma’s 48-year-old husband Jie Charly Gunawan; her mother Jo Indri, 82; and two other children, 19-year-old Steven and Stephanie, 28.
Stephanie’s fiancé Christanto Leoma Hutama was also with them.
“We hope for a survivor… at least just one of them. I hope that one of them can come back alive,” Santo said.
“If not, we hope that all of their bodies at least will be here, we don’t want any missing bodies. They died so tragically, at least I want them to have a proper burial.”
Thejakusuma was the owner of clothes store Planet One in Surabaya, and was known for being hard-working and humble despite her own affluence, said another of her nephews, Agus Panjaya.
A devout Buddhist, she regularly made financial contributions to her local temple as well as to orphanages, and she was always quick to help her relatives.
Panjaya recalled when he was still at high school and living in a dormitory in the East Java city of Malang, when his aunt and uncle would take turns to drive two hours at weekends to visit him and take him sightseeing around the city.
“They did not want me to feel lonely,” he said. “It was in my aunt¡¦s character to just help people whenever she could, poor people, her own family, anyone. That’s why everyone feels a deep sense of loss.”
AirAsia QZ8501: 4 air traffic control workers sacked after flight schedule blunder
Jan 06, 2015 08:39
By David Raven
Staff who failed to sport the doomed plane was flying the wrong schedule have reportedly been dismissed following an official review into safety proceedings
Four air traffic controllers have been sacked after a review found they were responsible for 'failing to check the approved flight schedule' for AirAsia QZ8501.
The doomed plane, on which 162 people lost their lives, was flying an unauthorised route, Indonesia's transport ministry said on Saturday.
Pilots were travelling from Surabaya to Singapore but were using the summer schedule - as opposed to the winter one - which allows them to fly on different days.
Wisnu Darjono, Indonesia AirNav's Director for Safety and Standard, said four officers at Surabaya Airport's air traffic control were removed from their positions because they were 'directly responsible for failing to check the approved flight schedule.'
There has so far been no suggestion the blunder had a direct impact on the safety of the plane, however, the full reason behind the crash will only be revealed once the black box is recovered.
Search and rescue teams are currently scouring an area of 45 by 35 nautical miles in the Java Sea with sonar for the remains of the plane and any flight data that is still intact.
So far the remains of 37 bodies have been recovered but the rest of the victims are thought to still be inside the plane.
Bad weather initially hampered search attempts but earlier today divers were able to go down to the wreckage as the weather had cleared.
The fatal flight's pilot had asked before for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a storm but the request was denied due to other planes above him on the route.
It was another bad weekend for AirAsia after passengers refused to get back on board after an engine 'died'.
First pictures of AirAsia wreckage taken after tail is found on seabed
Breakthrough in search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 as rescue teams locate the tail section expected to contain its 'black box' recorders, which could explain the cause of the crash
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 07 January, 2015, 2:08pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 07 January, 2015, 4:26pm
Agence France-Presse in Jakarta
This section of the plane wreckage shows the "A" and dotted "i" of AirAsia's distinctive logo. Photo: EPA
Recovery teams have found the tail of the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea, the Indonesian search chief said on Wednesday, the eleventh day of relief operations.
“We have successfully obtained part of the plane that has been our target. The tail portion has been confirmed found,” search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in Jakarta.
"I can confirm that what we found was the tail part from the pictures," he said, adding that the team "now is still desperately trying to locate the black box," he said.
The discovery on the seabed could mark a breakthrough in the search as the tail of a plane usually houses the “black box” flight data recorders, crucial to determining the cause of a crash.
No pings have been detected from the plane’s all-important cockpit voice and flight data recorders. That’s because high waves have prevented the deployment of ships that drag ping locators.
The batteries in the pingers on the black boxes are likely to go dead in about 20 more days.
A photo released by Indonesian authorities shows what appears to be the interior of the plane's rear. The tail is where commercial aircraft keep the black boxes. Photo: EPA
"The location of the tail is relatively far from the point of last contact, about 30 kilometres," search and rescue agency coordinator Supriyadi said.
"The black box is [typically] located behind the door, to the right of the tail. There is a possibility that the tail and the back of the plane are broken up."
Soelistyo said a total of 12 objects had now been found, but he did not confirm whether all were parts of the aircraft. The wreckage is thought to also include parts of the fuselage, where many of the bodies of victims may still be trapped.
The plane vanished from radar screens during a storm on December 28 when it was flying from the city of Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board, most of them Indonesian.
Despite a huge recovery operation assisted by various countries, progress has been patchy with poor weather conditions hampering the search. So far 39 bodies have been found, all of them floating on the sea.
Even during a rare break in bad weather, divers could only go into the muddy waters of the Java for minutes at a time.
"We couldn’t dive for long, only five or 10 minutes and then go up," navy diving supervisor Sergeant Major Rudi Hartanto said.
"The sea bed is mostly m&d and sand, and the current is strong - four to five knots - so the m&d comes up and the visibility reduces to zero."
A torn part of the Airbus A320-200 shows what appear to be airplane decals. Dents and scratches are also seen on the surface, providing clues about what happened when the jet crashed. Photo: EPA
Search chiefs earlier said five large parts of the plane had been detected but had not confirmed which parts of the aircraft. Discovery of the tail section may allow rescue teams to recover more of the bodies, they said.
Indonesia alleges the plane was flying on an unauthorised schedule when it crashed and AirAsia has since been suspended from flying the Surabaya-Singapore route.
Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic. No distress signal was issued.
“We are confident that rescuers would be able to locate them in time,” said Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator for Indonesia’s National Committee on Transportation Safety.
For relatives of those aboard the flight, the slow pace of the search has been agonising. "I’m still looking for my younger sibling," said a woman, who did not give her name, at the crisis centre set up for relatives in Surabaya.
Indonesia AirAsia, 49 percent owned by the Malaysia-based AirAsia budget group, has faced criticism from authorities in Jakarta in the 10 days since the crash.
Indonesian navy ship KRI Sultan Hasanudin is seen froom a Super Puma helicopter during the search operation for passengers onboard AirAsia Flight QZ8501 off the Java sea on Monday. Photo: Reuters
The transport ministry has suspended the carrier’s Surabaya-Singapore licence, saying it only had permission to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Unauthorised, Flight QZ8501 took off on a Sunday, though the ministry said this had no bearing on the accident.
AirAsia has said it is cooperating fully with the ministry’s investigations.
Indonesia has also reassigned some airport and air traffic control officials who allowed the flight to take off and tightened rules on pre-flight procedures in a country with a patchy reputation for air safety.
With additional reporting from Reuters and Associated Press
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