More bodies recovered from AirAsia Flight 8501 crash site

PanARMENIAN.Net - Indonesian searchers found six more bodies from AirAsia Flight 8501 Tuesday, Feb 3, after resuming operations over the weekend, bringing the number of recovered bodies to 89 of the 162 people aboard the jet that crashed in late December, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Divers found six bodies at the crash site in the Java Sea, according to the search-and-rescue agency’s Twitter account Tuesday.

Searchers also recovered six bodies a day earlier, including four found inside the fuselage of the plane, which is in about 100 feet (30 meters) of water off the coast of Borneo. Two other bodies were found below the fuselage, the agency said on its website.

The Indonesian Navy had been trying to lift the fuselage but withdrew from the recovery operation after several failed attempts last week. It said it had no indication that victims remained inside the main body of the Airbus A320.

The search agency halted operations last week to refuel and change crews, and started up again at the weekend. It has said it would continue to search for at least this week before evaluating whether to continue efforts to retrieve bodies.

Searchers have already recovered the flight’s black boxes, which are undergoing analysis by air-crash investigators in Jakarta.

The search agency said its divers have been joined by divers from the government’s upstream oil-and-gas industry regulator, which is also providing technical support.