Following the disappearance of an AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore, an Indonesian official announced that objects have been spotted in the sea by an Australian search plane in the hunt for the missing jet.
The official did not confirm if the objects belonged to the missing flight.
From the Associated Press:
Jakarta’s Air Force base commander Rear Marshal Dwi Putranto says he was informed Monday that an Australian Orion aircraft had detected suspicious objects near Nangka island, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Pangkalan Bun, near central Kalimantan, or 700 miles (1,120 kilometers) from the location where the plane lost contact.
“However, we cannot be sure whether it is part of the missing AirAsia plane,” Putranto says, “We are now moving in that direction, which is in cloudy conditions.”
On Monday, an Indonesian helicopter searching for the jet spotted two oily spots in the water.
A request from one of the pilots to increase altitude to avoid a storm was the last communication from the cockpit to air traffic control, officials say. By the time clearance was given, the plane had disappeared. The pilot never sent a distress signal.
Flight 8501 was carrying 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant. Five crew members were staffed on the plane, as well as a pilot and co-pilot.
The search for the missing jet continues.
SOURCE: AP | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO SOURCE: News Inc.
