Portion of the tail of AirAsia Flight 8501 floats on the water as Indonesian navy divers conduct search operations for the black boxes of the crashed plane in the Java Sea
Investigators
searching for black boxes in the crashed AirAsia plane lifted the tail
portion out of the Java Sea on Saturday, two weeks after it went down,
killing all 162 people on board.
It
was not immediately clear if the cockpit voice and flight data
recorders were still inside the tail or had been detached when the
Airbus A320 plummeted into the sea Dec. 28. Their recovery is essential
to finding out why it crashed.
The
tail was hoisted from a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet) using
inflatable bags that were attached to the rear of the aircraft and a
crane to lift it onto a rescue ship.
The tail section of the crashed AirAsia plane has been surfaced
Intermittent underwater ping-like sounds were picked up Friday about a kilometer (half mile) from where the tail was located, but it was unclear if they were coming from the recorders located in the back of the aircraft. It was possible the signals were coming from another source.
No metal was detected at the ping location, and Nurcahyo Utomo, a National Commission for Transportation Safety investigator, said the sounds could not be confirmed.
The news comes after a director from the Indonesian search-and rescue agency said readings detected on Friday suggest the black box may be outside the tail section of the plane.
Investigators searching for black boxes in the crashed AirAsia plane lifted the tail portion out of the Java Sea on Saturday, two weeks ago after it went down, killing all 162 people on board
The tail was hoisted from a depth of 30 metres using inflatable bags
Footage recently emerged showing Indonesian military divers investigating the submerged tail of doomed AirAsia flight 8501, as search and rescue teams are hopeful that the black box from the plane's wreckage has been located.
Having located the tail of the plane on Thursday, search teams began pressing ahead with their efforts to find the black box and retrieve bodies from the wreckage, and on Friday afternoon reported detecting 'pings' from the flight data recorder.
But Suyadi Bambang Supriyadi, director of operations of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency, said pings detected about 1km southwest of the wreckage suggest the black box may be located elsewhere, reports Business Spectator.
It was not clear if the black boxes were still inside the tail when it was surfaced from the bottom of the ocean
The underwater searches ended before dusk on Friday, after divers were unable to find the black box.
Indonesian authorities have warned that the black box, which is located in the tail in the Airbus A320-200, may have become separated during the crash.
Footage released by Indonesian authorities shows divers surrounding the submerged wreck, shining torches into the badly damaged hull, 30 metres under the surface of the Java Sea.
Search official said black box may be outside the tail section of the plane
Pings from the black box were detected 1km southwest of the wreckage on Friday morning
The flight data recorder, or black box, which is located in the back end of the plane, could prove crucial to determining the cause of the December 28 crash that killed all 168 people on board.
Lifting balloons were loaded onto helicopters in preparation of recovery efforts to lift the tail out of the Java Sea, despite worries that the black box may have been separated from the tail during the crash.
The footage was captured by the divers despite poor weather and murky water which has been hampering recovery efforts.
Lifting balloons were loaded onto helicopters in preparation of recovery efforts to lift the tail out of the Java Sea, despite worries that the black box may have been separated from the tail during the crash
The tail of the AirAsia plane was surfaced from the water using giant baloons
The footage shows elite divers holding a box to the exterior of the tail, which still has the identifying markers 'PK' plane on its side.
Navy ships USS Sampson and USS Fort Worth have deployed helicopters and sonar devices into the Java Sea to aid the recovery operation off the coast of Borneo.
Only 43 bodies have been retrieved so far, as monsoon rains and winds have caused choppy sea conditions and blinding silt from river run-off, reducing visibility underwater and preventing the removal of large pieces of the wreckage.
New footage has emerged showing Indonesian military divers investigating the tail of AirAsia flight 8501
Many of the other passengers are believed to be inside the wreckage of the plane's main cabin, which has not been located, due to strong currents moving debris around.
At two weeks, most corpses will sink, said Anton Castilani, head of Indonesia's disaster identification victim unit, and there are already signs of serious decomposition.
'Divers have reached the tail part but ... the visibility was below one metre so they only managed to retrieve various debris,' said Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.
The divers hop to locate the flight data recorder and retrieving more bodies of the crash's victims
Footage released by Indonesian authorities shows divers surrounding the submerged wreck of the tail
'Now we are waiting for the speed of the current to ease. If it gets calmer later, they will go back to do another dive to determine whether the black boxes remained in the tail or were detached,' Mr Soelistyo said on Thursday.
Divers travelled by rubber boat from the KRI Banda Aceh warship that was being stationed close to the site of tail wreckage, which Mr Soelistyo said would be lifted off the seabed by retrieval experts on Friday if weather permitted.
Lieutenant. Edy Tirtayasa, commander of Indonesia's navy rescue team, told Channel News Asia they planned to send two contingents to the plane.
Divers travelled by rubber boat from the KRI Banda Aceh warship that was being stationed close to the site of tail wreckage
Indonesian navy divers arrive on their inflatable boats after conducting operations to lift the plane's tail
'We are going to send down one observation team to take photos. Then two teams will do the recovery process -- to recover bodies if there are any,' he said.
'If not, they will recover the black box for investigation and then other debris from the aircraft, he said.
The flight data recorder, or black box, could prove crucial to determining the cause of the December 28 crash that killed all 168 people on board
Divers travelled by rubber boat to the KRI Banda Aceh warship that was stationed near the tail's wreckage
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo told reporters the black box would be analysed by experts in Indonesia when it was located.
It will provide essential information about the plane along with final conversations between the captain and co-pilot, despite the Indonesian meteorological agency indicating that weather was the 'triggering factor' of the crash, with ice likely damaging the engines of the Airbus A320-200.
Five other big objects have been found on the floor of the ocean, though no visual confirmation has been obtained yet. Smaller pieces of the plane, such as seats and an emergency door, have been collected from the surface.
Tony Fernandes, AirAsia's chief executive officer, welcomed the news.
Navy personnel carry air balloons into a NC212 aircraft at Juanda airbase
Inclement weather has hampered recovery efforts by Indonesian and international personnel
If it is the right part of the tail section, he tweeted, then the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, 'should be there'.
He said the airline's priority still is to recover all the bodies 'to ease the pain of our families'.
Families of the victims whose bodies have been recovered held funeral ceremonies on Thursday to lay their loved ones to rest.
Family members and friends buried their bodies and lay flowers over the graves, bringing photos of the victims to lay at memorial sites.
The National Search and Rescue Agency found four more bodies on Friday, bringing the total body count to 48.
Divers found the bodies strapped to their passenger seats.
Rescuers carry a coffin containing the body of a victim, after AirAsia announced families of the victims will be offered $US100,000 in compensation by the airline
Family members held funerals for victims of the crash on Thursday
The recovery operation comes as news that the families of the victims of the flight will be offered $US100,000 in compensation by the airline.
An offer of $US24,000 was presented to family members, who were given a draft letter from AirAsia, which detailed its initial compensation deal, CNN reported.
Family members have been left confused about the letter's wording and raising issue with the airline approaching families separately in relation to compensation, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Victims' families have been offered $US100,000 after they were initially offered $US24,000 byAirAsia
Relatives and friends pray during the funeral ceremony of crash victim Lim Yan Koen
But Indonesia AirAsia's director of safety and security defended the isolated discussions to The Strait Times on Tuesday, saying: 'We respect that [some] families are still hoping to see that their relatives survived, so we offered [compensation first] to those whose family members have been identified'.
Captain Raden Achmad Sadikin added the airlines would be compensating families in line with Indonesian policy.
According to the regulatory body that is responsible for Indonesia's finance sector, agencies that insure airlines were liable to give 1.25 billion rupiah for every one of the 155 passengers including 315 million rupiah to 750 million rupiah for the 25 passengers who bought flight insurance.
On Wednesday, searchers looking for the plane say they believe they have found the aircraft's tail
Just before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic. No distress signal was issued.
Indonesina Sea and Coast Guards display recovered seats from the AirAsia flight QZ8501 on Tuesday
National Search and Rescue Agency personnel carry wrecked seats from the AirAsia plane to land
Five other big objects have been found on the floor of the ocean, though no visual confirmation has been obtained yet
Along with the tail, the fuselage is thought to be with it, off the coast of the Indonesian island of Borneo
The black box is thought to be inside the tail. It will help shed some light on the last moments of the flight before it crashed