Say Fuel Could Point The Way To Missing Plane

Crews in Indonesia believe they've found another sign of the whereabouts of a missing airliner believed to have crashed off the northeastern coast of that country two weeks ago. A top search and rescue official tells the Associated Press a fuel spill has been spotted in the area.

The spill was detected Sunday, during one of the many aerial surveys sweeping the western coast of Sulawesi Island since the January 1 downing of an Adam Air 737 with 102 persons onboard.

Hopes were high the spill could lead crews to the accident site, and a ship was immediately deployed to the area... but strong currents later shifted the oil slick, and investigators were still attempting to find it Monday night.

"So far we've had no luck," said First Air Marshal Eddy Suyanto, commander of the airbase in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.

As Aero-News reported, several pieces from the jetliner -- including the plane's tail, food trays, and shards of fuselage -- have been pulled from the Makassar Strait in the past several days.

Suyanto also said crews have recovered what appear to be fragments of human remains from the waters in the area, although no survivors or bodies have been located. Crews are still searching for the aircraft's fuselage, as well as the plane's flight data recorders.

The remains have been sent for DNA testing, officials told Reuters.

FMI: www.flyadamair.com