Indonesia sent divers into the water on Sunday to examine wreckage from AirAsia Flight 8501, but operations slowed overall, with the weather allowing divers to enter the water only briefly.
A week after the Airbus A320 crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people aboard, Indonesia’s search-and-rescue agency said Sunday that sonar imaging revealed a fifth large object in a search area off the southwest coast of Borneo, measuring nearly 10 meters (about 32 feet) in length. The agency said Saturday that it had found four main parts of the jetliner, with the largest measuring about 18 meters, on the seafloor. Divers haven’t made contact with that wreckage.
A total of 34 bodies had been recovered as of Sunday evening, and all had been sent to Surabaya, a port city on Java island where the flight originated, Soelistyo told reporters in Jakarta. But operations slowed overall on Sunday, with the weather allowing divers to enter the water only briefly.
Shares in AirAsia fell 11.6 per cent after one of its aircraft went missing in bad weather on Sunday on its way to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya.
Shares of the Malaysia-based budget airline fell at the start of trade on Monday, after Indonesia resumed its search for the missing jetliner QZ8501 at first light on Monday.
AirAsia fell as much as 12.9 per cent to 2.56 ringgit at 0102 GMT, its lowest point since Nov 28. The stock has gained 21.4 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Indonesia AirAsia is 49 per cent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, with local investors holding the rest. The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, has not had a crash since its Malaysian operations began in 2002.
Indonesia searched the Java Sea on Monday for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing after its pilot failed to gain permission to alter course to avoid a storm cell during a flight from Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Flight QZ8501 did not issue a distress signal and disappeared five minutes after requesting a change of course on Sunday, said government and transport officials.
AirAsia's 4th update on QZ8501
The following is AirAsia's latest press statement (as at 11.45pm, Dec 28) on behalf of AirAsia Indonesia, on AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501.
Earlier in Surabaya, the management of AirAsia along with the Governor of East Java, National Search and Rescue Agency of Republic of Indonesia (BASARNAS), Airport Authority of Indonesia, Airport Operator (Angkasa Pura I) met with the members of the families to update them on the latest developments and reconfirmed their commitment to providing assistance in every possible way.
Sunu Widyatmoko, CEO of AirAsia Indonesia said, "We are deeply shocked and saddened by this incident. We are cooperating with the relevant authorities to the fullest extent to determine the cause of this incident. In the meantime, our main priority is keeping the families of our passengers and colleagues informed on the latest developments."
"We will do everything possible to support them as the investigation continues and have already mobilized a support team to help take care of their immediate needs, including accommodation and travel arrangements. A briefing center has also been set up in Surabaya for the families."
Indonesia resumed at dawn Monday the search for an AirAsia plane that went missing in the Java Sea with 162 people on board, a search and rescue official said.
"We have resumed the search for the missing AirAsia plane at 6:00 am. We are heading to east Belitung island," Tatang Zainuddin, deputy operations chief of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) told AFP.
The Airbus A320-200 disappeared en route from Surabaya in Indonesia's east Java to Singapore after the crew requested a change of flight plan due to stormy weather, in the third crisis for a Malaysian carrier this year.
TWO Singapore planes will set off early on Monday morning to assist with the continuing search for Flight QZ8501, the Indonesia AirAsia aircraft which has gone missing.
In a joint statement, the Singapore Transport Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said the CAAS will also be sending an officer to the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta to help in the coordination of the search operations.
On Sunday morning, the Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (SRCC) - managed by CAAS and supported by various agencies, including the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) - had offered assistance to BASARNAS, the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency.
The SRCC had offered planes and ships to assist in the search and received confirmation from the Indonesian authorities in the afternoon on the acceptance of the offer. The SRCC then launched a C130 aircraft for the search on Sunday.
AirAsia flight carrying 162 people goes missing in Southeast Asia: officials
Indonesia's air force was searching for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing on Sunday after the pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200, lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17 am. (2317 GMT), officials said. "The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost," the airline said in a statement.
No distress signal had been sent, said Joko Muryo Atmodjo, air transportation director at Indonesia's transport ministry.
Indonesia AirAsia said there were 155 passengers and seven crew on board. It said 156 were Indonesian, with three from South Korea and one each from Singapore, Malaysia and France.
Both neighboring Singapore and Malaysia had offered to help in the search, officials said.
Shares of AirAsia Bhd (5099.KU), Southeast Asia's largest discount carrier by fleet, Thursday fell to its lowest level in three weeks after reporting a 85% fall in third-quarter net profit.
The stock opened 2.0% lower at 2.41 ringgit a share ($0.72) and hit a low of 2.38 ringgit, its lowest since Oct. 30, in early trade on the Malaysian stock exchange. AirAsia was traded at 2.39 ringgit at 0130 GMT, valuing the company at about 6.6 billion ringgit.
AirAsia's July-September net profit fell to 5.4 million ringgit from 35.5 million ringgit a year earlier as borrowing costs surged 25% and the budget airline incurred a deferred tax of 10.5 million ringgit. Operating cost also increased. Revenue however rose 3.1% to 1.32 billion ringgit from 1.28 billion ringgit a year earlier, aided by an increase in passengers.