Searchers Locate AirAsia 8501 Tail Section

SURABAYA – Six boats were deployed on Wednesday (January 7) to help retrieve the tail of a crashed AirAsia jet which has been found on the sea bed about 30 km (20 miles) from the plane’s last known location.

Locating the tail has been a priority because the cockpit voice and flight data recorders that can provide vital clues on why the plane crashed are located in the rear section of the Airbus.

Photos from Indonesian broadcaster TV One showed divers next to the tail, and ropes being used to secure it for retrieval later.

The tail was identified by divers after it was spotted by an underwater machine using a sonar scan, authorities said.

Flight QZ8501 vanished from radar screens over the northern Java Sea on Dec. 28, less than half-way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors among the 162 people on board.