SAR Team Finds Four Parts of AirAsia Flight QZ8501

Jakarta (Antara Bali) -- The joint operation search and rescue team found four large parts of AirAsia flight QZ8501 on the seventh day of their efforts since it crashed, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said.

Head of Basarnas Vice Marshal F. H. B. Soelistyo stated at a press conference here on Saturday that four parts of the aircraft were detected by the sonar signal of their geo survey vessel on Saturday at 5.43 a. m. and 3 p. m. local time.

"The four parts were located within the limits of the priority search area, close to one another," he added.

The geo survey vessel is equipped with an undersea object detector and a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) that produces three dimensional (3D) visuals of objects.

The joint SAR team had found the fuel slick around the priority area in Karimata Straight on Friday night (January 2), after which they detected two huge objects with dimensions of 9.2 x 4.6 x 0.5 meters in 3D and 7.2 x 0.5 meters in 2D.

"I am very sure those two objects are part of the fuselage of the plane we have been looking for," Soelistyo noted.

He also mentioned that the findings were tracked down by the well-coordinated SAR team in the field.

Their efforts will be continued on Sunday (January 4) morning when the weather, according to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), is expected to be more conducive.

"We still have not been able to install the ROV due to high waves that reach heights of 3 to 4 meters. We will, hopefully, be able to do it tomorrow morning (January 4)," Soelistyo remarked. (WDY)