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AirAsia confirmed debris found in the Java Sea came from missing Flight 8501. Bodies were also recovered from the location just six miles from the plane's last communications with air-traffic control.
Indonesian officials shows airplane parts and a suitcase found floating on the water near the site where AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared.(Photo: Dewi Nurcahyani, AP)
SURABAYA, Indonesia — Officials have confirmed that debris found in Indonesian waters is from AirAsia Flight 8501 that vanished on Sunday, the airline said.
In a statement Tuesday, AirAsia Indonesia said the country's National Search and Rescue Agency confirmed the debris of the aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait between Sumatra, Java and Borneo, a large island shared among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The announcement came as bodies were being recovered from the area where the flight disappeared.
Search and rescue operations are still in progress and the debris is still being investigated, the statement said.
Sunu Widyatmoko, AirAsia Indonesia's CEO, said in a statement issued by the airline: "We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501. Our sympathies also go out to the families of our dear colleagues."
AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes added: "I am absolutely devastated. This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the wellbeing of the family members of those onboard QZ8501."
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AirAsia on Twitter
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak tweeted: "On behalf of all Malaysians, I extend my deepest condolences to the families of those on Air Asia Indonesia QZ8501. We share your sorrow."
On behalf of all Malaysians, I extend my deepest condolences to the families of those on Air Asia Indonesia QZ8501. We share your sorrow.
— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) December 30, 2014
Indonesian officials spotted the bodies about six miles from the plane's last communications with air-traffic control. Many media agencies were reporting that 40 bodies were recovered Tuesday, but Hernanto, head of Surabaya search and rescue operations, told reporters that only three bodies had been recovered by Tuesday night.
Malaysia's TV One showed live video of a body floating in the water near the Indonesian part of Borneo, causing some family members of passengers watching the live transmission at the crisis center at Surabaya's Juanda Airport to break down in tears.
At least three women were carried out on stretchers.
On Tuesday evening, Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Fernandes arrived at the Surabaya crisis center to meet with the family members of passengers on the plane.
In a brief statement to the press in Indonesian, Jokowi said the country "will focus on recovery of passengers and crew members," and thanked Australia, Singapore and Malaysia for their assistance in the search operations.
Fernandes called the crash "an airline CEO's worst nightmare."
"It's an experience I never dreamt happening," he said. He maintained that he had full confidence in AirAsia's fleet and crew in Indonesia, and refused to guess at the cause of the crash.
"It is too early and too speculative, he said. "What we are beginning to see is that there were some very unique weather conditions."
An Indonesian military aircraft earlier saw white, red and black objects about 105 miles south of Pangkalan Bun, a city on the south coast of Borneo. AirAsia planes are red and white.
National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi told The Associated Press that from an aircraft above, he saw what appeared to be a life jacket and an emergency exit door. More wreckage could be seen beneath the water.
The search has focused on a 70-square-nautical-mile area between Belitung island, off Sumatra, and Borneo. The water in the busy shipping lane is about 150 feet deep.
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Marselinus Saputra, whose cousin Ruth Natalia Puspitasari, her boyfriend and her boyfriend's parents were on board Flight 8501, said he was "devastated" when he saw reports of the first body found in the water.
He said he had been holding onto a tiny hope that there might be survivors but now that hope has all but faded. "I just hope they can recover the bodies tomorrow so this is over and we can start to go on," he said.
Desmond Ross, an Australia-based aviation security expert, said it was too early to know what caused the crash, but cautioned that Asia's rapid growth in air travel is raising safety concerns. "[Air travel in Asia] is growing too quickly," he said. "It's one of the fastest growth areas in the world. They can't keep up with the demand for pilots."
Fernandes said that pending the results of the crash investigation, his company had no intentions of slowing down its growth. "We'll continue our business as normal," he said. "Operations are as normal, sales numbers have remained strong. People remain confident in AirAsia and we will continue as planned."
The Airbus A320, which took off from Surabaya, lost contact with air-traffic control around 7:24 a.m. Singapore time Sunday (6:24 p.m. ET Saturday), the airline said. Pilots had asked for permission to climb to avoid storm clouds, but six other aircraft were in the vicinity, so controllers temporarily denied their request. Minutes later, the plane vanished from radar screens without declaring an emergency.
Airbus, based in France, issued a statement Tuesday offering its sympathies to anyone affected by the loss of the plane.
"With safety as its prime concern, Airbus reaffirms its full commitment to provide all necessary technical assistance to the investigation authorities in order to establish the cause of this tragic accident," Airbus said in the statement.
The tragedy is the third commercial air disaster involving Malaysia-based airlines in the southeast Asia region this year. Mystery still surrounds Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8 without a trace en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard. On July 17, another Malaysia Airlines craft was shot down over rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine while on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. AirAsia is based in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital.
In a separate incident Tuesday, Philippine officials said an AirAsia Zest plane with 159 passengers and crew members aboard overshot a runway in a central province after landing in windy weather from Manila.
Giovanni Hontomin, who is in charge of AirAsia Zest's operations, said crew members activated an emergency slide to help passengers disembark safely from the Airbus A320-200. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Domestic carrier AirAsia Zest is partly owned by AirAsia Philippines.
Onyanga-Omara reported from London. Contributing: The Associated Press; Jessica Estepa, USA TODAY in McLean, Va.
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