Indonesian search and rescue crews unload one of the bodies of AirAsia passengers recovered from the sea at the airport in Pangkalan Bun, central Kalimantan. – Reuters pic, December 31, 2014.
A body recovered from the crashed AirAsia plane on Wednesday was wearing a life jacket, an official with Indonesia's search and rescue agency said, raising questions about how the disaster unfolded.
Seven bodies have been recovered from the sea, some fully clothed, which could indicate the Airbus A320-200 was intact when it hit the water. That would support a theory that it suffered an aerodynamic stall.
The fact that one person put on a life jacket would appear to indicate those on board had at least some time before the aircraft hit the water, or after it hit the water and before it sank.
And yet the pilots did not issue a distress signal. The plane disappeared after it failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic.
"This morning, we recovered a total of four bodies and one of them was wearing a life jacket," said Tatang Zaenudin, an official with the search and rescue agency.
He declined to speculate on what the find might mean.
Ships and planes resumed the search for wreckage, bodies and black boxes of flight QZ8501 today after Indonesian rescuers found several bodies and debris floating in shallow waters off the coast of Borneo yesterday.
However, big waves and winds prevented divers from searching the crash zone for the sunken remains of the aircraft, which had 162 people on board when it vanished on Sunday about 40 minutes into its flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Indonesian rescuers believe they have found the wreck of a crashed AirAsia plane on the ocean floor off Borneo, after sonar detected a large, dark object beneath waters where debris and bodies were found floating.
Ships and planes had been scouring the Java Sea for flight QZ8501 since Sunday, when it lost contact during bad weather about 40 minutes into its flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Indonesian rescuers have recovered various bits of debris, including luggage, and seven bodies floating in shallow waters.
"It's about 30 to 50 metres underwater," Hernanto, head of the search and rescue agency in Surabaya, said of the object on the sea bed.
Authorities in Surabaya were making preparations to receive and identify bodies, including arranging 130 ambulances to take victims to a police hospital and collecting DNA from relatives.
"We are praying it is the plane so the evacuation can be done quickly," Hernanto said.
Most of the people on board were Indonesians. No survivors have been found.
Among the bodies found on Wednesday was a flight attendant.
The fully clothed bodies could indicate the Airbus A320-200 was intact when it hit the water and support a theory that it suffered an aerodynamic stall.
"The fact that the debris appears fairly contained suggests the aircraft broke up when it hit the water, rather than in the air," said Neil Hansford, a former pilot and chairman of consultancy firm Strategic Aviation Solutions.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his priority was retrieving the bodies.
"I feel a deep loss over this disaster and pray for the families to be given fortitude and strength," Widodo said in Surabaya on Tuesday after grim images of the scene in the Java Sea were broadcast on television.
Widodo said AirAsia would pay an immediate advance of money to relatives, many of whom collapsed in grief when they saw the television pictures from the search.
AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes has described the crash as his "worst nightmare".
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search.
Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to pick up pings from the black boxes, which contain cockpit voice and flight data recorders. – Reuters, December 31, 2014.
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