AirAsia: Two Large Objects Detected by Sonar

Mr. Bambang Soelistyo of the Search and Rescue Agency said that two large objects from the missing AirAsia plane had been detected by sonar from an Indonesian navy ship.

"We found oil slicks and huge objects at 23:40 (16:40 GMT) last night. I am confident these are parts of the missing AirAsia plane that we are looking for," he said.

He also said that a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) was being lowered to take pictures.

"As I speak we are lowering an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) to get an actual picture of the objects detected on the sea floor. All are at the depth of 30 metres."

This is as bad continued to hamper the search operations for the missing jet.

The airliner's disappearance halfway through a two-hour flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore triggered an international search for the aircraft involving dozens of planes, ships and helicopters. It is still unclear what brought the plane down. The plane needs to be located and its cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, recovered before officials can start determining what caused the crash.

 

The jet vanished from radar in bad weather Sunday morning, Dec. 28, 2014.

So far 30 bodies have been recovered in the search. No survivors have been found and the main sections of the Airbus A320 have not been retrieved.

Most bodies are thought to have been trapped in the plane's fuselage.

After bodies are recovered from the sea they are transported in numbered coffins for identification in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city.

AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record, with no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.