AirAsia tail lifted from sea, but no sign of black boxes
Print Edition
THE mangled tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed with 162 people on board was lifted out of the Java Sea yesterday, but without the crucial flight recorders, Indonesian authorities said.
The Airbus jet went missing in stormy weather on December 28 as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, killing all aboard.
The remains of the tail, which contained the black box data recorders that are essential to explaining the disaster, was found in the seabed 10 days after the crash.
The 10-meter-long stretch of mostly mangled metal was lifted onto a tugboat using giant balloons and a crane, but there was no sign of the black boxes.
“It’s definite that the black boxes aren’t there,” said S. B. Supriyadi, a director at the National Search and Rescue Agency.
The black boxes are seen as important because they should contain the pilots’ final words as well as various flight data.
However, Supriyadi said the boxes were still emanating ping signals and were believed to be buried in the seabed close to where the tail was found.
Supriyadi said divers, from an elite Marines unit, would continue scouring the sea for the black boxes.
“The challenge is that these sounds are very faint. If a ship passes by, the sounds will be drowned out. So we really need calm waters,” he said.
To aid the tracking of the signals, Supriyadi said the engines of the warships involved in the search operation will be turned off today.
Search efforts also involving foreign naval ships continued throughout yesterday for other parts of the plane’s wreckage, as well as for the bodies of the passengers and crew.
Just 48 bodies have been found so far, according to Indonesian authorities.
There was no success yesterday in finding the cabin part of the plane where most of the passengers were.
“We strongly intend to find other parts of the plane as we are confident that the victims’ (bodies) are still trapped in there,” Indonesian military chief Moeldoko said.
All but seven of those on board were Indonesian.
The non-Indonesians were three South Koreans, a Singaporean, a Malaysian, a Briton and a Frenchman — co-pilot Remi Plesel.
The Indonesian meteorological agency has said weather was the “triggering factor” for the crash, with ice likely damaging the engines of the Airbus A320-200.
Before take-off, the plane’s pilot, Captain Iriyanto, had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a major storm. But the request was not approved, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s air traffic control.
In his last communication, the former air force pilot said he wanted to change course. Then all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after take-off.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
