Weather frustrates AirAsia search divers, no ‘pings’ detected

Bad weather forced divers trying to identify sunken wreckage from a crashed AirAsia passenger jet to abort their mission on Sunday and Indonesian officials said they had not yet picked up any signals from the lost plane’s “black box”. Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said seasonal tropical storms probably contributed to last Sunday’s crash and the weather has persistently hampered efforts to recover bodies and find the cockpit voice and flight data recorders that may explain why the Airbus A320-200 plunged into the sea. Thirty-four bodies of the mostly Indonesian passengers and crew have so far been recovered, including some still strapped in their seats.

Based on the finding of pieces of debris it looks like the body of the aircraft split or cracked and was separated from its tail.

Air Force Lt Col Johnson Supriyadi

Nine ships from four countries have converged on the area, with teams of divers including seven Russian experts standing ready, but strong winds and four-meter high waves have kept progress agonizingly slow. Flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea about 40 minutes after taking off last Sunday from Indonesia’s second-largest city Surabaya en route for Singapore. There were no survivors.

Asia-Pacific