AirAsia flight QZ8501: Divers look for plane's main cabin and black box
Indonesian search teams believe a sonar scan has detected the fuselage of an AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board.
Officials said divers had been sent into the water to confirm if more wreckage had been located.
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control during a thunderstorm on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Searchers have also revealed pings believed to be from the aircraft's black box flight recorders have been heard.
An official said three ships had detected pings about four kilometres from where the plane's tail was raised yesterday from about 30 metres below the surface.
Diving operation to find plane body begins
National Search and Rescue Agency operations coordinator S B Supriyadi said a sonar scan had revealed an object measuring 10 metres by four metres by 2.5 metres on the sea floor.
"They suspect it is the body of the plane. There is a big possibility that the black box is near the body of the plane," he said.
"A team of divers has already been sent to prove this data. The diving operation has started."
Forty-eight bodies have been found in the Java Sea off Borneo and searchers are still hunting for the plane's fuselage, which could contain more bodies.
"If it is the body of the plane then we will first evacuate the victims. Secondly we will search for the black box," Mr Supriyadi said.
Strong winds, currents and high waves have been hampering efforts to reach other large pieces of suspected wreckage detected by sonar on the sea floor.
Investigators have said once found, it could take up to two weeks to download data from the black box recorders.
The Indonesian meteorological agency has said stormy weather likely caused the Airbus A320-200 to crash.
But a definitive answer is impossible without the black boxes, which should contain the pilots' final words as well as various flight data.
AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes welcomed the news of the possible discovery of the aircraft's black box.
He tweeted today that "a lot is being done behind the scenes".
"Let's hope today is a major breakthrough day and we can find the main fuselage. It's important to us to find all our guests."
All but seven of those on board the ill-fate flight were Indonesian.
The non-Indonesians were three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman - co-pilot Remi Plesel.
