80 Divers Deployed in AirAsia Crash Search

More than 80 divers are searching for the AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last week. So far, five large objects have been found in waters approximately 30m deep off Borneo, Indonesia.

The objects, the largest about 18m long, are believed to be part of the aircraft’s fuselage, and divers are using sonar to search for the plane’s black box flight recorders.

AirAsia has stated that four more bodies were found on Sunday, taking the number of bodies recovered to 34. 

One of the four bodies was recovered by divers, and the other three were found floating.

However, bad weather continues to hamper search efforts. Indonesia’s search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters that visibility on the sea floor is zero, and currents are three to five knots.

At least nine ships from four countries are assisting in the search and recovery efforts. They have found debris including an emergency exit window, luggage and passenger seats.
 
The AirAsia airbus on Flight 8501 was carrying 162 passengers between Surabaya and Singapore when it crashed.

An initial report from Indonesia’s meteorological agency BMKG says that the storm clouds the jet was flying in at the time of the crash had temperatures as low as -85 degrees Celcius (-121 Fahrenheit), sparking claims of “extreme” weather conditions.

“The most probable weather phenomenon was icing which can cause engine damage due to a cooling process. This is just one of the possibilities that occurred based on the analysis of existing meteorological data,” the report said.