Agencies, Jakarta :
Searchers today received signals believed to be emanating from the black box recorders of ill-fated AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea two weeks ago with 162 people on board, Indonesian officials said.
The pings were detected over an area spanning from 1 km to 4 kms from the location of the jet’s rear.
“It was detected within a wide area, which needs to be combed by divers,” said Nurcahyo Utomo, an official with Indonesia’s National Commission for Transportation Safety.
It was not clear whether the pings were from black box of the Airbus A320-200.
The development came a day after the tail of the doomed AirAsia jet was lifted out of the choppy waters of the Java Sea using inflatable balloons yesterday.
The black box, crucial for unravelling the mystery of the crash, was not found inside the section nearly two weeks after the tragedy.
The 10-metre-long metal chunk, with the words “AirAsia” clearly visible across it, became the first major wreckage lifted off the seabed.
Similar “pings” were also detected on Friday and efforts to retrieve the tail section – where the black box is located – were stepped up.
The recorders are important because they should contain the pilots’ final words and possibly various flight data.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with ground control on December 28, less than half way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia to Singapore and crashed possibly due to bad weather. In his last communication, the pilot said he wanted to change course to avoid a storm. Then all contact was lost.
Only 48 bodies, including at least two strapped to their seats, have been found in the choppy waters.
Indonesia’s Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan assured the search to find the still untraced bodies would be funded by the State budget and the efforts would continue no matter how long it would take.
BBC adds: AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes has expressed optimism that a breakthrough may be near in the search for missing flight QZ8501.
Fernandes tweeted he had “strong information” the plane’s “black box” flight recorders had been found.
There has been no confirmation, but it comes amid an intense operation to locate the plane’s main fuselage – believed to contain missing bodies.
QZ8501 disappeared in bad weather on 28 December with 162 people on board.
It was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.
Mr Fernandes, AirAsia’s chief executive, tweeted on Sunday that he had been “led to believe” that the recorders had been found.
“Still not confirmed. But strong info coming. But my man [sic] thoughts is fuselage,” he said.
Earlier he tweeted: “Let’s hope today is a major breakthrough day and we can find main fuselage.”
An official said earlier that a large object resembling the plane’s body was found in a sonar scan of the search area in the Java Sea.
But Supriyadi, operations coordinator for Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, later told the BBC’s Indonesian service that reports that the fuselage had been found had not been confirmed.
Searchers today received signals believed to be emanating from the black box recorders of ill-fated AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea two weeks ago with 162 people on board, Indonesian officials said.
The pings were detected over an area spanning from 1 km to 4 kms from the location of the jet’s rear.
“It was detected within a wide area, which needs to be combed by divers,” said Nurcahyo Utomo, an official with Indonesia’s National Commission for Transportation Safety.
It was not clear whether the pings were from black box of the Airbus A320-200.
The development came a day after the tail of the doomed AirAsia jet was lifted out of the choppy waters of the Java Sea using inflatable balloons yesterday.
The black box, crucial for unravelling the mystery of the crash, was not found inside the section nearly two weeks after the tragedy.
The 10-metre-long metal chunk, with the words “AirAsia” clearly visible across it, became the first major wreckage lifted off the seabed.
Similar “pings” were also detected on Friday and efforts to retrieve the tail section – where the black box is located – were stepped up.
The recorders are important because they should contain the pilots’ final words and possibly various flight data.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with ground control on December 28, less than half way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia to Singapore and crashed possibly due to bad weather. In his last communication, the pilot said he wanted to change course to avoid a storm. Then all contact was lost.
Only 48 bodies, including at least two strapped to their seats, have been found in the choppy waters.
Indonesia’s Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan assured the search to find the still untraced bodies would be funded by the State budget and the efforts would continue no matter how long it would take.
BBC adds: AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes has expressed optimism that a breakthrough may be near in the search for missing flight QZ8501.
Fernandes tweeted he had “strong information” the plane’s “black box” flight recorders had been found.
There has been no confirmation, but it comes amid an intense operation to locate the plane’s main fuselage – believed to contain missing bodies.
QZ8501 disappeared in bad weather on 28 December with 162 people on board.
It was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.
Mr Fernandes, AirAsia’s chief executive, tweeted on Sunday that he had been “led to believe” that the recorders had been found.
“Still not confirmed. But strong info coming. But my man [sic] thoughts is fuselage,” he said.
Earlier he tweeted: “Let’s hope today is a major breakthrough day and we can find main fuselage.”
An official said earlier that a large object resembling the plane’s body was found in a sonar scan of the search area in the Java Sea.
But Supriyadi, operations coordinator for Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, later told the BBC’s Indonesian service that reports that the fuselage had been found had not been confirmed.
