AIRASIA JET crash Search goes on for victims, fuselage

Associated Press

SURABAYA, Indonesia

The weather improved today, and divers will attempt again to locate large objects on the ocean floor believed to be the fuselage of the AirAsia flight that crashed more than one week ago, killing all 162 on board.

At least five ships with equipment that can detect the plane’s black boxes have been deployed to the area where the suspected plane parts were spotted, said Suryadi B. Supriyadi, Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue director of operations.

“If it cannot be done by divers, we will use sophisticated equipment with capabilities of tracking underwater objects and then will lift them up,” Supriyadi said.

Five large objects — the biggest measuring 59 feet long and 18 feet wide and believed to be the fuselage — have been detected, and Supriyadi repeated that officials expect that many passengers and crew will be found trapped inside.

Divers tried to reach the site Sunday, but rolling seas stirred up silt and mud, leaving them with zero visibility.

Four more bodies were brought to shore on Sunday, raising the total to 34.

The crash of Flight 8501 has triggered an intensive international search-and-recovery operation involving 20 planes and helicopters along with 27 ships from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States.