SAR Agency Searches QZ8501 Fuselage and Black Box

      Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The National Search and Rescue (SAR) Agency will focus its efforts on the ninth day to find the fuselage and black box of the missing AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft.

        "Tomorrow (Monday), our priority is to dive in the search area, which we have predicted to be the location of the fuselage of the aircraft," Head of the SAR Agency Henry Bambang Soelistyo stated here on Sunday evening.

        The SAR team had planned to undertake diving operations on Sunday morning. However, the bad weather had hindered their plans. Soelistyo said the underwater currents can reach 3-5 knots with zero visibility range due to the silt rising from the bottom of the sea.

        The chief revealed that five ships will focus on searching for the black box.

        "There is an opportunity after analyzing the weather forecast for Monday. The waves could reach heights ranging between 2 and 3 meters. I hope we can achieve optimum results tomorrow," Soelistyo remarked.

        The SAR Agency noted that several teams had attempted to carry out diving operations. However, the efforts did not yield satisfactory results due to the bad weather.

        "Safety is an important thing," Soelistyo emphasized.

        The joint SAR team had recovered 34 bodies from the search area of the missing QZ8501 aircraft.

        "Until now, 34 bodies have been evacuated and delivered to Surabaya," Soelistyo said.

        The aircraft, which served the Surabaya-Singapore flight route, had gone missing since Sunday (Dec. 28).

        The AirAsia QZ8501 is an Airbus A320-200, with the registration number PK-AXC. It was piloted by Captain Iriyanto who had clocked 20.5 thousand flying hours.

        The plane was carrying 155 passengers, including six foreigners and seven crew members, one of whom was a French citizen. (WDY)