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| Commander of 1st Indonesian Air Force Operational Command Rear Marshall Dwi Putranto, right, shows airplane parts and a suitcase found floating on the water near the site where AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared, during a press conference at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. Bodies and debris seen floating in Indonesian waters Tuesday, painfully ended the mystery of AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed into the Java Sea and was lost to searchers for more than two days. The writings on the suitcase reads "Recovered by KRI Bung Tomo." KRI Bung Tomo is the name of an Indonesian Navy ship. The numbers on the suitcase are the coordinates. |
PANGKALAN BUN,
Indonesia (AP) -- The first proof of the fate of AirAsia Flight 8501
emerged Tuesday from the shallow, aqua-colored waters of the Java Sea,
confirming that the plane crashed with 162 people aboard in an area not
far from where it dropped off radar screens.
Two
days after the jet vanished, searchers found as many as six bodies and
debris that included a life jacket, an emergency exit door and a
suitcase about 10 miles from the plane's last known coordinates.
The
airliner's disappearance halfway through a two-hour flight between
Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore triggered an international hunt for
the aircraft involving dozens of planes, ships and helicopters. It is
still unclear what brought the plane down.
Images
of the debris and a bloated body shown on Indonesian television sent a
spasm of anguish through the room at the Surabaya airport where
relatives awaited news.
The first sign of the
jet turned up about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from its last known
coordinates. Parts of the interior, including the oxygen tank, were
brought to the nearest town, Pangkalan Bun. Another find included a
bright blue plastic suitcase, completely unscratched.
"I
know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his
family are dead," said Ifan Joko, who lost seven relatives, three of
them children, as they traveled to Singapore to ring in the new year.
"We still pray they are alive."
First Adm.
Sigit Setiayanta, commander of the Naval Aviation Center at Surabaya Air
Force base, told reporters six corpses were spotted about 160
kilometers (100 miles) from Central Kalimantan province.
Rescue
workers descended on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve
bodies. Efforts were hindered by 2-meter (6-foot) waves and strong
winds, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi said.
The
first body was later picked up by a navy ship. Officials said as many
as six others followed, but they disagreed about the exact number.
Supriyadi
was on the aircraft and saw what appeared to be more wreckage under the
water, which was clear and a relatively shallow 20 to 30 meters (65 to
100 feet).
When TV broadcast an image of a
half-naked man floating in the water, a shirt partially covering his
head, many of the family members screamed and wailed uncontrollably. One
middle-aged man collapsed and had to be carried out on a stretcher.
Their
horror was captured by cameras on the other side of windows into the
waiting room. Officials blacked out the glass later Tuesday evening.
Around
125 family members were planning to travel Wednesday to Pangkalan Bun
to start identifying their loved ones. Body bags and coffins have been
prepared at hospitals there. Dozens of elite military divers will join
the massive search. They were desperate to search the water ahead of
approaching rough weather.
Malaysia-based
AirAsia's loss comes on top of the still-unsolved disappearance of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March with 239 people aboard, and the
downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July over Ukraine, which
killed all 298 passengers and crew.
Nearly all the passengers and crew were Indonesians, who are frequent visitors to Singapore, particularly on holidays.
Haidar
Fauzie, 60, said his youngest child and only daughter, Khairunnisa
Haidar, was a flight attendant who had worked with AirAsia for two
years.
On learning about the crash, he
struggled to console his grieving wife. They last saw their child six
weeks ago, when she returned home on holiday.
"From
the start, we already knew the risks associated with being a
stewardess," Fauzie said. "She is beautiful and smart. It has always
been her dream to fly. We couldn't have stopped her."
AirAsia
group CEO Tony Fernandes, the airline's founder and public face and a
constant presence in Indonesia since the tragedy started unfolding, said
he planned to travel to the recovery site on Wednesday.
"I
have apologized profusely for what they are going through," he said of
his contact with relatives. "I am the leader of this company, and I have
to take responsibility. That is why I'm here. I'm not running away from
my obligations."
The jet's last communication
indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought
permission to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of
heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the jet disappeared from the
radar without issuing a distress signal.
The
plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, have
yet to be recovered. Scott Hamilton, managing director of aviation
consultancy Leeham Co., said in a post on his website that autopsies may
provide some of the earliest clues about what happened.
"If
death was due to blunt-force trauma, this could suggest passengers were
alive upon impact with the water," he wrote. "If death came from other
circumstances, this could suggest an explosive decompression and
in-flight break up occurred."
Several countries rushed to Indonesia to help with search and recovery efforts.
The
United States said it was sending the USS Sampson destroyer, joining at
least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters in the search for the
jet.
A Chinese frigate was on the way.
Singapore said it was sending two underwater beacon detectors to try to
pick up pings from the plane's all-important cockpit voice and
flight-data recorders. Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also
involved in the search.
