Russian Divers Assist Search for QZ8501

Kotawaringin Barat, C Kalimantan (Antara) - A team of Russian divers departed to Karimata Strait early on Sunday to search the missing Air Asia QZ8501 fuselage and black box as well as to evacuate victims. The Russian divers departed for the search area aboard KP Balam vessel owned by the Indonesian Police at 01:00 a.m. The team will join the Baruna Jaya vessel of the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology to search for the ill-fated aircraft using sonar pulse. Head of the National SAR Agency Bambang Soelistyo said at least two Russian airplanes have arrived in Indonesia to help the SAR effort. One of the airplanes joined the search effort in Karimata Strait on Saturday and on Sunday. He added the Russian government also has sent an amphibious airplane that can land in water. The SAR team on Sunday found a body in the search area. A total of 30 bodies have been found on the previous days. The 30 bodies have been flown to Surabaya, East Java, to be identified by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), while another body is still in Iskandar Airport of Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan Province. The Air Asia QZ8501 is an Airbus A320-200, with registration number PK-AXC. It was piloted by Captain Iriyanto who had 20.5 thousand flying hours. The aircraft which served the Surabaya-Singapore flight route has gone missing since Sunday (Dec 28). The plane carried 155 passengers, including six foreigners and seven crew members, one of whom was a French citizen. The joint search team found several objects and bodies of the passengers on Tuesday (Dec 31). (*)