QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board crashed into the sea off Kalimantan on Sunday morning after taking off from Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, at 5.20am local time.
Search and rescue (SAR) efforts are now focussed on recovering bodies and debris from the sea.
Malaysiakini brings you the live updates of information as it comes in.
Latest developments
- Korean plane spots three seated in same row
8.15pm: An Indonesian navy official says some of the dead were still strapped to their seats, reports the Associated Press .
Of the 30 corpses recovered in total, 21 were found today, many of them by a US Navy ship, according to officials.
Yayan Sofiyan, commander of the warship Bung Tomo , tells MetroTV his vessel managed to pull seven bodies from the choppy waters toiday, five still fastened in their seats.
Indonesian search and rescue chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo, who was only able to confirm two victims in their seats, says a total of 30 bodies have been recovered.
Four crash victims have been identified and returned to their families, including a flight attendant and an 11-year-old boy.
Tail detected using side-scan sonar
7pm: An Indonesian navy ship has detected the tail of the crashed AirAsia plane at the bottom of the ocean, according to the ship’s captain, as reported by dpa .
"We managed to detect the tail of the aircraft using the side-scan sonar," Colonel Yayan Sofyan says on Metro TV .
He says the object was on the sea bed at a depth of 29 metres.
Korean plane spots three seated in same row
6.35pm: South Korean search airplane P3-C Orion KN-01 spots six bodies, including three which were seated in the same row in the ill-fated plane.
"After searching for two hours, they spotted three bodies seated in the same row," according to a press statement released by the Indonesian army communication unit, reports detik.com.
The search airplane, however, has returned to base for now.
Search site is WWII warship graveyard
6:10pm: The Java Sea - the focus of the search for the wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501 - is also a massive graveyard of World War II warships, reports detik.com .
The presence of debris from these sunken warships have contributed to false clues when the use of modern technology is used.
When a team detects the presence of metal objects in the area where the ill-fated plane is suspected to have crashed, it does not necessarily mean it belongs to the wrecked plane.
The sea was the location of the Battle of the Java Sea where on Feb 27, 1942, the Allied forces, consisting of the Dutch, US, British, and Australian ships, were defeated by the Imperial Japanese forces, resulting in the loss of five warships and 2,300 sailors, while the latter lost one of their destroyers.
Black box search called off for now
5.45pm: Due to choppy seas, the search for the black box of the plane has been called off for now, Indonesia's SAR agency Basarnas says, reports detik.com .
“The conditions of the sea do not allow for the search to go on for now,” says its chief Supriyadi.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan says that the black box, once found, will be analysed in Indonesia.
He, however, says other countries will be allowed to be part of the process, reports detik.com .
Total bodies recovered increases to 22
5.25pm: So far, 22 bodies have been recovered, says Basarnas director Supriyadi in a press conference today, reports detik.com .
He says that of that number, eight are in Surabaya, 10 still at Pangkalan Bun, and four more on the US’ search vessel USS Sampson.
11-year old boy among those identified
4.45pm: One of the three identified today - Grayson Herbert Linaksita - is an 11-year-old boy.
DVI team chief Budiyono says that Grayson was flying with two family members with the same surname - 12-year-old Kathleen Fulvia Linaksita dan Tony Linaksita, reports detik.com .
Their exact relationship has yet to be ascertained, says Budiyono.
The bodies identified have now been handed over to the families.
Russians join in the search
4:30pm: More than 70 Russian rescuers have arrived in Indonesia to assist in the search, reports Russian news service Sputnik .
Two aircraft, an IL-76 and a Be-200, landed at the airport of Jakarta.
The rescue team arrived with special gear including the Folkon remote-controlled deepwater vehicle, an acoustic echo sounder, boats and engines for the equipment, says the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Three more bodies identified
4pm: Three more bodies have been identified based on DNA samples, dental records and other methods.
Disaster victim identification (DVI) team chief Budiyono says that the ones identified are Grayson Herbert Linaksita, Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi (stewardess) and Kevin Alexander Sutjipto, reports detik.com .
All three are Indonesians.
Four other countries also involved with the Indonesian DVI team are Malaysia, Australia, South Korea dan Singapore, the news portal quotes East Java police chief inspector Anas Yusuf as saying.
Minister ticks off AirAsia
3.30pm: Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan is reportedly furious at AirAsia Indonesia for allegedly not following procedures, according to detik.com .
This follows the minister's visit to the airline's headquarters near Jakarta to observe its pre-flight procedures, where he warns that stern action could be taken against breaches in procedure.
"Jonan is angry at AirAsia. Furious… Prior to departure, the pilot is supposed to get a briefing directly from the flight operation officer, especially on the weather.
"However all this while, AirAsia simply relied on the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics' websites," his aide Hadi M Djuraid is quoted as saying.
Prayers for the absent deceased
3.20pm: A Friday congregation of more than 5,000 held solat jenazah ghaib (prayers for the missing deceased) for those who perished in the ill-fated plane today, reports detik.com .
The prayer took place in one of the biggest Makassar mosques, Al Markaz Al Islami, in South Sulawesi.
Japanese search vessels leave for site
2.41pm: The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force ships JS Ohnami and JS Takanami left Port Klang in Malaysia at 7am for the search site, reports Channel NewsAsia .
Four more bodies have also arrived at Pangkalan Bun via a US Seahawk helicopter from the search site.
Church loses 46 of its members
2.35pm: The Mawar Sharon church in Surabaya has lost 46 of its members in the tragedy.
The church elder Prasetyo, according to detik.com , says that of the number, 20 were on a tour organised by the company Universal.
Meanwhile, Basarnas tweets that SAR efforts will be intensified for fear that bodies will be decomposing very quickly in the sea.
Premier navy divers deployed
2.10pm: Indonesian navy vessel KRI Banda Aceh will arrive at QZ8501's crash site by 3pm today (Malaysian time), reports Jakarta Post .
The ship is carrying 57 members of the Indonesia navy diver unit Komando Pasukan Katak (Kopaska) to help recover plane debris and any remains of passengers who may still be strapped to their seats.
Kopaska is known as the premier frogman and underwater demolition unit of the Indonesian navy.
First of crew identified
1.30pm: The remains of stewardess Khairunisa Haidar is identified being among the 10 bodies brought ashore, according to the Singapore-based Straits Times .
Her body is kept in a coffin marked “No. 004” that is now in Surabaya, and is identified through her red uniform and name tag that read “Khairunisa”.
Khairunnisa, 22, has been with AirAsia for the past two years.
AirAsia Group chief Tony Fernandes had previously said he would accompany Khairunisa’s parents from Surabaya back to their home in Pelembang once her remains are identified.
Bad weather, underwater craft not deployed
1:30pm: Assisting in the search operations of the wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501, the RSS Persistence – a vessel sent by Singapore – reports that weather conditions are impeding the search, quotes Channel News Asia.
Due to the worsening sea conditions in the Karimata Straits off Kalimantan, Indonesia, an unmanned underwater search craft cannot be deployed.
It is also reported that while weather conditions may have slightly improved, it might not last long.
Side scan sonar and pinger locator used
12.10pm:
Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar tweets "#QZ 8501: The three ships would operate Underwater Marine Detection System (Side-scan Sonar and Pinger Locator) to search the missing plane."UN sec-gen sends condolences
12.05pm: United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon sends his condolences to the kin of victims of the crash.
A UN spokesperson says Ban has been closely following the developments of the salvage efforts as emergency teams work to recover plane debris and the bodies of the 162 passengers and crew who had been on board the flight.
The sec-gen also extended his condolences to "the governments and peoples of their countries of origin, particularly Indonesia, which suffered the greatest loss" and thanked "those governments that joined in the search for the missing plane for their quick and able response."
Descriptive clothes on bodies
12 noon : The two bodies retrieved this morning have been described: 009 is a male adult about 164cm wearing a short sleeve red T-shirt with the words "vintage radio" written on it, while coffin 010 is a female of about 155cm with a ring on her middle finger, wearing blue trousers and a sleeveless white blouse, reports Channel NewsAsia.
11.45am: Sudden downward gusts of wind known as microbursts are among the possible causes of Flight QZ8501’s crash, according to aviation and meteorological experts quoted in New Straits Times today.
The report says wind speed from these gusts can exceed 270 kilometres per hour, and the Malaysian Metrological Department has confirmed the presence of cumulonimbus clouds on the day of the incident, which in turn, can cause the microbursts.
"Pressure around the area would change drastically because of the sudden gust of strong wind, making it extremely difficult for the pilot to control the aircraft," aviation researcher Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian was quoted as saying, adding that these forces could cause aircraft wings to snap.
Another scenario, Mohd Harridon speculated, would be similar to the Air France Flight 447 crash in 2009, where ice formed and clogged the aircraft's instruments.
This, in turn, caused false readings being fed to the autopilot and flight crew, and a fatally misled decision to climb until the aircraft stalled.
The cause of QZ8501's crash is still unknown, but various media reports such as those from The Star have also pointed to an AF447-like scenario.
11.10am: The six bodies found by the USS Sampson will be flown to Pangkalan Bun using its own helicopter, reports Metro TV .
Ten bodies have already been brought to shore.
"With the six more being flown, there will be a total of 16 bodies recovered," says Pangkalan Bun SAR director Supriyadi.
He says that as all the bodies are floating on the sea, some are brought in by life crafts while the rest are hoisted up by search helicopters.
Sea exposure makes identification difficult
11 am: Forensics say they are having trouble identifying one of the victims because fingerprints are inconclusive as the body had been exposed to sea water for too long, reports Channel NewsAsia .
A total of 29 ships and 17 planes are involved in the search for the black box and wreckage today, says Basarnas.
10.45am: Australia's 9news today reports Dudi Sudibyo, a senior editor of aviation magazine Angkasa , speculating that QZ8501 could have made an emergency landing on water, which explains why the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) has not been activated.
The ELT sends out distress signals upon impact, and Sudibyo explains a soft landing on the sea surface would not activate it.
He further suspects the plane could have submerged from rough seas following the landing.
The report also cites Chappy Hakim, a former air force commander telling AFP the evidence seen so far suggests no signs of explosion.
"The conclusions I have come to so far are that the plane did not blow up mid-air, and it did not suffer an impact when it hit a surface, because if it did so then the bodies would not be intact," he is reported as saying.
Former transport minister Jusman Syafii Djamal is reported adding that recovery of the inflatable slide early on in the search supports the theory, as it indicates attempts to evacuate.
Djamal is convinced the discovery of the floating exit door meant "someone had opened it" and says, "Passengers may have been waiting for a flight attendant to inflate a life raft when a high wave hit the nose and sank the plane," according to the Australian network.
16 bodies found so far
10.30am: Information gathered shows that 16 bodies have been found, says detik.com .
The head of Indonesia's national search and rescue agency (Basarnas), however, said he is only willing to confirm 10 bodies so as to avoid confusion.
"What has been confirmed to me is there is a total of 10 bodies, eight of which have been delivered and two which have now been evacuated to Pangkalan Bun," says Soelistyo.
He says the rest of the bodies are likely still on the search vessels at sea.
Indonesia's Metro TV also says that more bodies are likely to be found today.
'Pilot would have known weather conditions'
10.15 am: Indonesia's air navigation safety and standard director Wisnu Darjono says there should be no speculation as to the reason of the plane crash. He urges all to wait for the investigation results by the National Transportation safety committee, reports detik.com .
Wisnu, however, says the pilot would have known the weather as the plane has a weather radar which warns of impending weather 200 miles ahead.
The portal also reports him stating that the pilot would have been familiar with the weather conditions on his flight path as all have been planned and it is an international flight path.
10.05am: The sea conditions are reported to be much calmer today and the SAR operations are intensifying.
SAR teams on shore were reported by detik.com stating that there is enough space to take up all bodies that arrive.
Seven more bodies found, one by M'sian navy
9.54am: According to Channel NewsAsia , seven more bodies have been found by the multinational search-and-rescue team in the Java Sea.
One of the bodies was spotted by the Malaysian Navy while the other six by United States' USS Sampson.
Malaysian Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar tweets the body found by the Malaysian team yesterday is now being transferred to the tug boat for evacuation to the shore later.
Debris from the ill-fated aeroplane which include luggage and parts of the plane are also being brought to the shore this morning.
8.30am: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) expresses "profound sadness and shock over what happened to QZ8501" and sends its deepest condolences to the family members and friends, says its president Hamzah Rahmat in a statement.
"We are grieved by the loss of life yet we remain hopeful that survivors will be found soon," he says on behalf of Matta.
"Our thanks go out to the search and rescue teams from so many nations for their tireless efforts and unwavering dedication," he adds.
French black box specialist to arrive today
8am:
France's crash investigation agency says its specialist black box search team and equipment will arrive early today at the search area, reports Reuters.
France's BEA crash investigation agency assists in the investigation of any air crash involving an Airbus aircraft because the company is France-based.
Heavy seas stopped divers reaching the possible wreck of the AirAsia Indonesia jet off Borneo yesterday and an aviation official says it could be a week before the black box flight recorders were found.
"During the morning of Jan 2, local time, a ship will be taking the investigators to the search area, with detection equipment including hydrophones, in order to try and locate the acoustic beacons from the two flight recorders," BEA says in a statement.
The plane was travelling at 32,000 feet (9,753 metres) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid bad weather. When air traffic controllers granted permission for a rise to 34,000 feet a few minutes later, they received no response.
