Debris spotted off Indonesia coast, possible from AirAsia jet - official

(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-12-30 14:31

5:01pm

Indonesia rescue and search agency official says Java Sea debris is from missing AirAsia jet. - Reuters

4:45pm

"My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501," AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted. "On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am."

Debris spotted off Indonesia coast, possible from AirAsia jet - official

Family members of passengers onboard missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, December 30, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

4:29pm

Bodies were found floating near the site where the missing plane was last seen.

Meanwhile, an air force plane spotted a "shadow" on the seabed, believed to be the missing jet.- AP

4:11pm

Indonesia's search and rescue agency chief said he was 95 percent certain debris sighted off Indonesia's Kalimantan coast was part of the AirAsia jet presumed to have crashed two days ago.

"I am 95 percent sure that the location pictured is debris suspected to be from the aircraft," Indonesia Search and Rescue Agency chief Soelistyo told reporters. - Reuters

An unidentified object, found during a search and rescue operation by the Indonesian Air Force for the missing AirAsia plane, is seen floating in the ocean off the coast of Pangkalan Bun, Borneo, Indonesia, Dec 30, 2014.[Photo/IC]

4:00pm

Search and rescue chief Bambang Sulistyo said at the press conference that at 12:50 local time Indonesian air force Hercules found a shadow underwater, believed to be in the shape of a plane. -BBC

3:50pm

Rescuers confirmed that the emergency exit door and other objects found on Tuesday are parts of the AirAsia missing plane.

A body was also found near the scene, Bambang Sulistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, said.

[Photo/AFP's Twitter account]

Objects resembling a body, luggage, a life vest and debris suspected to be part of an AirAsia jet that disappeared over the Java Sea were spotted by a pilot involved in the search operation, domestic media reported on Tuesday.

AFP quoted Indonesian civil aviation authorities as saying that the suspected debirs seen earlier is from the missing plane, while the country's search and rescue agency chief told Reuters that it's "95 percent sure" that the spotted debris is from the plane.

"The body seemed bloated," said First Lieutenant Tri Wibowo who was on board a Hercules aircraft during the search operation, reported the Kompas.com website.

The sightings were made at around 11:00 Indonesia time, Wibowo said, after searching for around five hours. The suspected remains and debris were seen in the Karimata Strait, west of the Indonesian part of Borneo.

An Airbus AIR.PA A320-200 carrying 162 people and operated by Indonesia AirAsia disappeared in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Previous reports said red and white debris were spotted off the coast of Indonesia's part of Borneo island.

"The debris is red and white," Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation at the transportation ministry, told reporters. "We are checking if it's debris from the aircraft. It's probably from the body of the aircraft."

Based on the size and colouring of the debris, it was likely to be part of the missing jet, Murjatmodjo added.

Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told media the search area in the Java Sea between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded.

Authorities would also begin scouring smaller islands and coastal land on Indonesian Borneo, while the United States said it was sending a warship to help in the search.

There have been no confirmed signs of wreckage from the Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia, which disappeared in poor weather early on Sunday during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The missing plane, with most of those on board Indonesian, could be at the bottom of the sea, Soelistyo said on Monday.

Indonesia's Kompass TV showed pictures of what looked like large, angular objects floating in the sea. One appeared to be orange and another grey or brown. The largest appeared to be several metres long.

"Hopefully, we will find something definite because I haven't received anything else," air force official Dwi Putranto told MetroTV referring to the reported debris.

The Java Sea is relatively shallow, making it easier to spot wreckage in the water, say oceanographers, but strong currents and winds mean any debris would be drifting up to 50 km (31 miles) a day east, away from the impact zone.

"The lesson that should be learned from MH370 is that you need to move quickly," said Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing on March 8 during a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and which has not been found.