Pinger locator Deployed in Search of AirAsia QZ8501's Black Box

West Kotawaringin, C Kalimantan (Antara Bali) - The hunt for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 moved into a new phase on Sunday with the deployment of a pinger locator to find the black box.

The pinger locator was transported from Pangima Utar seaport, Central Kalimantan, by a boat of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and was later transferred to Baruna Jaya I research ship owned by the Research and Application of Technology Agency (BPPT), Deputy Head of BPPT Ridwan Djamaluddin said here, Sunday.

The pinger locator would be deployed into the sea to send a signal to the missing AirAsia plane's black box, he said.

"The black box's instrument is expected to respond to the call signal, so its location could be identified," Djamaluddin explained.

On Saturday, BPPT detected a metal object, but it turned out that it was not the AirAsia plane's fuselage.

The Baruna Jaya I research ship is expected to search for the fuselage in different locations on Sunday.

The AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared on Dec. 28 en route from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore.

It was carrying 602 people on board, comprising 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a British, a Singaporean and a Malaysian.

It is believed to have crashed in the Java Sea, near Karimata Strait, some 95 Nautical miles (Nm) from Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan.

The search is being co-ordinated by the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), by involving a number of concerned Indonesian institutions such as the military, police and the transportation ministry, as well as foreign countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the US, Japan, China, South Korea, India, and Russia.

Ships have sighted a number of objects and bodies in Java Sea and around Karimata Straits so far.

Until Saturday, some 30 bodies have been found and evacuated first to Pangkalan Bun, and later to Surabaya. (WDY)