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| Part of AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 that has been found on the sea floor, off Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia |
Eerie photographs have shown the wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501 lying on the bottom of the Java Sea.
Images show pieces of the jet including what appears to be the tail fin showing the AirAsia logo and possibly an interior section of the cabin. Divers and an unmanned underwater vehicle spotted the missing plane's tail. It's here that also usually houses the 'black box' flight data recorders which will be crucial to determining the cause of the crash.
The haunting pictures revealed on Wednesday come as Indonesian aviation authorities denied officials took bribes to allow airlines to alter their flight schedules amid allegations some were paid to approve unscheduled take-offs,including that of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501.
ABC News reported that Bambang Soelitsyo, the chief of Basarnas, Indonesia's search and rescue agency, confirmed that recovery teams found the tail of the plane in the Java Sea.
'We have successfully obtained part of the plane that has been our target. The tail portion has been confirmed found,' he said.
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The Indonesian Search And Rescue Agency found wreckage of the plane at the bottom of the Java Sea
Rescue teams found the tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people on board
The bodies of two more victims have been pulled from the sea as Indonesian officials continue the search for the AirAsia Flight QZ8501
Indonesian rescue personnel carry coffins with the remains of bodies of the recovered victims
A portrait of flight victim Jou Brian Youvito is pictured in the window of an ambulance as the family brings his body back for his funeral in Surabaya
Indonesian Red Cross officers sit near the coffins of AirAsia passengers en route from Pangkalan Bun to Surabaya on Tuesday
There has been 39 bodies recovered so far with 123 still missing after the AirAsia jet went missing over the Java Sea on December 28
Chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency Bambang Soelitsyo shows an underwater photo of part of the aircraft's wreckage
AirAsia group chief executive Tony Fernandes acknowledged the announcement in a post on his Twitter account.
'I am led to believe the tail section has been found. If right part of tail section then the black box should be there,' he tweeted.
'We need to find all parts soon so we can find all [our] guests to ease the pain of our families. That still is our priority.'
AirNav Indonesia, the country's navigation operator, says its employees are clean and there is 'no big money' involved in relation to airlines altering unapproved flight schedules, The Straits Times reports.
Seven officials, including three from AirNav Indonesia, have now been suspended over suspected links to unapproved schedules, including AirAsia's fatal flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday, December 28.
'They are clean,' AirNav Indonesia's safety and standard director Wisnu Darjono said of the company's employees.
'Look at their dull faces. Not possible for them to have lots of money.'
Seats from the aircraft were recovered during the search and rescue operation
Indonesian Navy personnel show recovered parts of the aircraft to the media
Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee officers hold up parts of the AirAsia aircraft
Indonesian Navy personnel sift through a variety of personal items and wreckage from AirAsia Flight QZ8501
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 only has approval to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
It did not have approval to fly the route on Sundays, which is when the flight crashed after losing contact with traffic controllers over the Java Sea.
The seven people suspended in the wake of the plane crash include two from the transport ministry, two from Surabaya's international airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, and three from AirNav Indonesia.
It comes as crews continue to search for Flight QZ8501's missing black box amid dismal weather.
Search and rescue agency official Supriyadi say it's possible the black box may be buried in the seabed or muddy waters may be impeding its signal.
'They haven't found anything, maybe because the water is turbid and there is zero visibility,' Supriyadi said.
'There's a possibility it is buried in mud.'
Officials believe an Indonesian naval ship may have discovered what is believed to be the tail section of the doomed jet, which is where the crucial data recorder is located.
On Tuesday search teams took advantage of a reprieve from bad weather to try to reach the wreckage of the AirAsia jet.
'Today's weather is friendly, the team can work,' the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, told a news conference in Jakarta.
The devastated families of passengers and crew onboard doomed AirAsia flight have been offered the chance to visit the plane's search location in the Java Sea.
Of the 162 people on board the aircraft when it crashed while en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore only 39 bodies have been recovered so far.
Indonesia's armed forces chief General Moeldoko said on Monday they have offered distraught families the opportunity to board an Indonesian naval ship to go out to the crash site, 90 nautical miles off the coast of Borneo island.
Personal effects, including trainers and a sleeping bag, from passengers recovered from search operations are displayed upon arrival at Juanda military airport
Indonesian Search and Rescue personnel carry the 38th coffin containing a victim of the AirAsia flight
The hope is the trip will help 'to lessen their sorrow and sense of loss', General Moeldoko said, the Straits Times reports.
The General told family members search teams are 'working hard (to find bodies and the plane wreckage) with friendly countries'.
'I told them to have trust in the armed forces that we are working hard,' he said.
On Tuesday, whole sets of seats from the ill-fated Airbus A320 were pulled from the sea as the recovery mission continued.
It comes after the daughter of the pilot of the ill-fated AirAsia flight made a heartfelt plea to the public to stop blaming her dad for the crash.
Captain Iriyanto's daughter, Angela Anggi Ranastianis, 22, made the statement on television as authorities said they were close to locating the black box of flight 8501.
Ms Anggi Ranastianis said on Indonesian station TV one: 'As a daughter, I cannot accept it. No pilot will harm his passengers.'
'He is just a victim and has not been found yet. My family is now mourning,' she said, The Straits Times reported.
Her televised plea on Monday came as three more bodies were recovered, bringing the total number found so far to 37.
Calmer weather on Monday meant Indonesian navy divers were able to resume efforts to identify suspected wreckage from AirAsia flight QZ8501 as ships and aircraft widened their search for debris and bodies.
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 by ships using sonar
The search has remained a struggle due to 'zero visibility', strong tides and murky water
'The weather is quite conducive. The visibility is six kilometres, there's no low cloud, and the wind is calm,' Indonesian Air Force Lt Col Jhonson Supriadi said.
'With our calculations of currents this strong, every day this operational area is extended.'
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 by ships using sonar.
'Based on past experience, the black box is not far from the plane debris we have found,' Mr Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Basarnas, told a media briefing at the agency's headquarters in Jakarta.
But he added that none of the searching ships had detected any 'pings', the locator signals the black box should transmit after a crash.
Divers have also recovered passengers' personal effects. A number of backpacks have been recovered, one of which appears to contain several packets of cigarettes and another raft survival bag. The find comes after a fifth large object was located on the ocean floor by search crews.
Four 'big objects' had already been located at the bottom of the Java Sea near Borneo. The fifth piece of the wreckage was found at a different location on the seabed, measuring 9.8 metres long, 1.1 metres wide and 0.4 metre high.
The biggest piece, measuring 18 metres long and 5.4 metres wide, appeared to be part of the jet's body.
The search has remained a struggle due to 'zero visibility', strong tides and murky water at the bottom of the ocean.
Mr Supriyadi 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.'
Vessels involved in the search for debris included at least eight sophisticated navy ships from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and the US, equipped with sonars for scouring the seabed to pinpoint the all-important black box and the wreckage.
It comes as Indonesian weather experts speculated that 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.
The discovery of the five large objects was made off the coast of the Indonesian island of Borneo
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.
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.
Devastated family members came together on Sunday at a tiny chapel in Surabaya - the city the flight departed from - that about 40 victims had been members of.
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.'
It remains unclear what caused the plane to plunge into the Java Sea near the island of Borneo, but bad weather does appear to have been a factor.
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.
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.
The Indonesian Government has also announced a sweeping review of all airlines to ensure they are only flying on routes in which they have permission.
Indonesian military soldiers standby for the arrival of coffins containing the victims of the AirAsia flight at Juanda Military Base Ops
Chief of National Search And Rescue Agency Henry Bambang Soelistyo speaks to the media as a photo of the fatal flight is projected onto a screen, during a press conference in Jakarta
But Singapore's Civil Aviation Authority said 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.
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 depressurisation.
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.
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