Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) confirmed on Wednesday that searchers have found the fuselage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the so-called second primary search area on the bottom of the Java Sea, near where divers recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. The announcement followed visual confirmation captured by a Singaporean Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), used by searchers to spot the main wreckage of the Airbus A320’s fuselage as well as the right wing on the sea floor. Basarnas plans to deploy divers on Thursday morning for recovery operations.
Search crews have also recovered two more bodies, located near Sembilan Island, some 70 miles southwest of Kota Baru, South Borneo. So far the international team of search-and-rescue agencies has recovered remains of 50 of the 162 passengers and crewmembers on the ill-fated flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Officials have sent both the FDR and CVR, recovered on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to Jakarta for analysis by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT). Authorities described the condition of both devices as good, and investigators have successfully downloaded all the data from the FDR.