QZ8501: SAR team race against time and weather uncertainty

Time and weather remain the two critical factors which might hamper the search and rescue (SAR) operation of AirAsia’s QZ8501 victims on Day 9, MetroTVNews.com reports.

“Our effort is challenged by time and weather. Debris from the aircraft and victim bodies has been seen drifted eastward,” said search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo.

Other than strong waves, another challenge that is predicted is the change of sea current which might give a hard time for the SAR team.

Today, the SAR mission has expanded eastward with a total search area of 20,700 square nautical miles. Five vessels with sophisticated underwater tracking ability and a group of experienced divers are also involved.

To date, BASARNAS confirmed to have recovered 34 remains, of which nine remains have been identified by the Disaster Victim Identification Police Department of Republic of Indonesia (DVI POLRI) with 25 remains awaiting identification.

Seven DVI experts from Singapore have also arrived to support the identification process. A number of DVI experts from South Korea and Australia will also support DVI POLRI to identify the victims.

SAR efforts will continue today with waves forecast to be at 2–2.5 meters. The priority of the search is now on deep sea diving in the area where the aircraft body is said to be located. Basarnas also confirms that the mission will be be supported by China that will be focusing on the blackbox search.