AirAsia debris
Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing AirAsia plane carrying 162
people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo
on Tuesday as relatives of those on board broke down in tears on hearing
the news, Reuters reported.
Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact
with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight
from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Indonesia's search and rescue agency confirmed the debris was from the
plane. The agency's chief, Soelistyo, said "more than one" body had been
recovered.
The plane has yet to be found and there was no word on the possibility of any survivors.
Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives
of the missing gathered at a crisis center in Surabaya wept with heads
in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away, a
Reuters reporter said.
"You have to be strong," the mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, said
as she comforted relatives. "They are not ours, they belong to God."
A navy spokesman said a plane door, oxygen tanks and one body had been recovered and taken away by helicopter for tests.
AirAsia chief, Tony Fernandes, who has been in Indonesia since the plane went missing, said he was rushing back to Surabaya.
"Whatever we can do at AirAsia we will be doing," he said on Twitter.
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States had been involved in the search of up to 10,000 square nautical miles.
About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States had been involved in the search of up to 10,000 square nautical miles.
The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its
pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather
because of heavy air traffic, officials said.
Flight QZ8501 was travelling at 32,000 feet (9,753 meters) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet, officials said earlier.
Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area.
The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said.
Online discussion among pilots has centered on unconfirmed secondary
radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a
speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have
stalled.
The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by
General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine
diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said.
Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong.
Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less
than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry
and spooked travelers across the region.
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from
Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has
not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down
over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/bodies-debris-from-missing-airasia-plane-pulled-from-sea-off-indonesia/197982/
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