Several Bodies Recovered From The Water By Indonesian  Navy

The Indonesian navy has confirmed that wreckage from AirAsia QZ8501 has been discovered, and several bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea.

"Today we evacuated three bodies and they are now in the warship Bung Tomo," said Bambang Soelistyon the head of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency.

The Australian Broadcasting company reports that planes from the Indonesian air force saw debris including an emergency slide, plane door, and other objects floating in the water. Djoko Murjatmodjo, director general of air transportation at the transportation ministry, said the debris was found about 110 nautical miles southwest of Pangkalan Bun, referring to a town on the island of Borneo in Central Kalimantan.

Divers have not been deployed to the site, and will search the water nearby, which is reported to be about 80 to 100 feet deep.

AirAsia confirmed the discovery of the wreckage in a statement posted on its website.

"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to inform that The National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia (BASARNAS) today confirmed that the debris found earlier today is indeed from QZ8501, the flight that had lost contact with air traffic control on the morning of 28th December 2014," the stement said.

"The debris of the aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun.

"The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC. There were 155 passengers on board, with 137 adults, 17 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots, 4 cabin crews and one engineer.

"At the present time, search and rescue operations are still in progress and further investigation of the debris found at the location is still underway. AirAsia Indonesia employees have been sent to the site and will be fully cooperating with BASARNAS, National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), and relevant authorities on the investigation.

“We are sorry to be here today under these tragic circumstances," said Sunu Widyatmoko, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Indonesia. "We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501. Our sympathies also go out to the families of our dear colleagues.”

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: http://qz8501.airasia.com/index.html