An Australian search plane has spotted suspicious objects in the sea near Nangka Island and an Indonesian helicopter saw two oily spots hundreds of miles away on Monday as a desperate search for AirAsia Flight 8501 resumed, giving weight to an official’s fear that the plane and its 162 occupants are likely “at the bottom of the sea.”
A dozen rescue ships, three helicopters and five other aircraft were dispatched to scour a large area near Belitung Island in the Java Sea, where the plane was last spotted before it dropped off radar, officials said.
The Australian Orion aircraft made the discovery near central Kalimantan, or 700 miles from the location where the plane lost contact, Jakarta's Air Force base commander Rear Marshal Dwi Putranto said.
"However, we cannot be sure whether it is part of the missing AirAsia plane," Putranto said. "We are now moving in that direction, which is in cloudy conditions."
The Indonesian helicopter located two oily spots east of Belitung Island. Unlike the Australian discovery, the oil was within the search area, which stretches 37 miles around the point where air-traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, Putranto said.
As distraught relatives of the missing jet’s passengers prayed for a miracle, the chief of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said the likelihood of finding survivors was remote.
Is it really safe to travel with flights in these regions?!Labels: airasia, clue spotted, missing plane
