QZ8501: Search resumes on Day 10 with focus on finding largest wreckage

Search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 resumed with the focus on day 10 given to finding the largest portion of the wreckage. According to Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) chief Bambang Soelistyo, the main focus of the mission is to locate the largest portion of the wreckage as it could be holding a large number of victims, reported detik.com. “We have taken this consideration into account because when the largest portion of the wreckage is found, there is also a possibility it may contain the largest number of crash victims “We carry out the most difficult task first before going on to the next stage,” he told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday. Up until day 10, BASARNAS confirmed a total of 37 bodies have been recovered and from that number, nine have been handed over to their next-of-kin. The search operation is being carried out by BASARNAS with the help of several countries including Malaysia. The ill-fated plane, carrying 162 passengers and crew members, had departed Surabaya at 5.35am on Dec 28, 2014 and was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8.20am on the same day. The passengers consist of 149 Indonesians, three from South Korea and one each from Singapore, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. The crew members meanwhile consisted of six Indonesians and one French national.