All news

Russia’s plane finds 30 objects on sea surface in Malaysian passenger jet crash area

One of the objects has been practically identified as a body of the crash victim in a life jacket

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Beriyev Be-200 plane of the Emergencies Ministry has found some 30 objects on the sea surface and supposedly a passenger body in the Malaysian passenger jet crash area, head of the ministry’s response group in Indonesia, chief military expert Eduard Chizhikov told TASS by telephone on Monday.

“During the day the Be-200 plane conducted aerial reconnaissance in the search area. The plane made two sorties 2 hours each. It has found 30 objects the positioning data on which were transmitted to the emergency response headquarters. One of the objects has been practically identified as a body of the crash victim in a life jacket,” Chizhikov said.

Deck helicopters were dispatched to the area.

Chizhikov said the weather was improving in the area of the plane crash, which makes it possible to conduct diving operations. “Divers of the Russian Emergencies Ministry continue their work. The vessel from which they will be diving has moved to the area of the supposed location of the plane debris,” the official said. According to him, the works are currently conducted both with the use of divers and a remotely controlled submersible.

AirAsia Airbus A320-200 crash

The Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-200 plunged into the Java Sea last Sunday (December 28) while en route from Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board. No survivors have been found. A multi-national task force of ships, planes and helicopters have been scouring the northern Java Sea and coastline of southern Borneo to recover the bodies of victims and locate the wreck of flight QZ8501 and its black box flight recorders, according to local media reports.

The breakthrough came as authorities said that Indonesia AirAsia had violated the terms of its license for the Surabaya to Singapore route by flying on a Sunday, the day the Airbus A320-200 plunged into the Java Sea, and announced they would investigate the carrier's other schedules. One large object was pinpointed by a ship searching during the night and three more, the largest of which was around 18 meters long, were located on Saturday.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s main military expert said that the search operation would be continued for another week.