Day 3: Missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501: Remains found in Java Sea

Jakarta Rescue crews scouring the waters off Indonesia said yesterday that they found dozens of bodies and spotted wreckage that belongs to AirAsia QZ8501 the jetliner that went missing Sunday carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members At last count the Indonesian Navy said the number of bodies recovered was 40Indonesian Air Force personnel carry airplane parts recovered from the water near the site where Flight 8501 disappeared at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun Borneo PicsAPDjoko Murjatmodjo a senior official with Indonesiarsquos Transportation Ministry confirmed that the debris was from Flight 8501 which was carrying 162 people when it disappeared ldquoWersquove confirmed the wreckage was from the body of the planerdquo he said Tuesday in Jakarta the capitalIn this image taken from a video released by TV One a rescuer is lowered on rope from a hovering helicopter near a bloated body in Java Sea waters As grisly images of floating bodies were broadcast on television screens where the families were gathered relatives sobbed and buried their heads in their hands a news channel reported Some collapsed and required medical treatmentThe bodies and debris were found in the Karimata Strait off the coast of Central Kalimantan Borneo The first sightings were about 66 miles southeast of the last known position of the plane or about 160 kilometres from land and 10 kilometres from the planersquos last known coordinatesIndonesiarsquos President Joko Widodo and the head of AirAsia were headed to Surabaya Indonesia to meet relatives President Widodo told media he had instructed all search teams to focus on finding the passengers and crewMembers of search teams told the Indonesian news media that they had spotted what appeared to be suitcases life vests and aircraft debris Indonesian television showed a rescuer descending from a helicopter toward a bloated corpse floating in the sea This visual of a halfnaked body of a man whose shirt partially covered his head sent a spasm of pain through family members watching together in a waiting room at the Surabaya airportMany screamed and wailed uncontrollably breaking down into tears while they held each other One middleaged man collapsed and had to be carried out on a stretcherSearch teams also spotted what appeared to be a larger piece of the fuselage of the Airbus A320200 which was operated by the Indonesian affiliate of AirAsiaTumultous search Indonesian meteorologists described recovery efforts as a race against time because foul weather mdash heavy rains choppy seas and higher winds mdash was predicted from Friday onward in the search areaA serviceman of the Republic of Singapore Air Force RSAF onboard a C130 aircraft looks out of a window during the search and locate SAL operation over the Java sea PicAFPldquoThe area we are searching is hugerdquo Bambang Soelistyo the head of Indonesiarsquos National Search and Rescue Agency said in a briefing The total search area including parts of Borneo and smaller islands in the Java Sea was around 60000 square miles the authorities saidA United States warship had been dispatched to join the search for the missing jet and Soelistyo said the Indonesian government had also accepted offers from South Korea and China to help in the searchThe Java Sea which separates the islands of Borneo and Java is relatively shallow mdash around 160 feet at its deepest point mdash but monsoon conditions were clouding the waters rescuers said155400sq km The total search area including parts of Borneo and smaller islands in the Java Sea