SHAH ALAM, 5 Jan: The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) reportedly found the location of the QZ8501 AirAsia aircraft, reports Kompas.com.
The commander of Iskandar air base in Pangkalan Bun, Lieutenant Colonel Johnson Simatupang, said that all aircrafts conducting air operations in the search mission will fly below 5,000 feet.
“We have received the operation command from Basarnas. All flights will be below 5,000 feet,” he said.
He said that the search location will be divided into four sectors involving aircrafts from the Indonesian National Air Force (TNIAU), South Korea, Russia and the United States.
Previously, Basarnas made sure that the AIrAsia QZ8501 aircraft crashed into the last contact location with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the SAR team focused the search at the coordinates.
“…convinced that AirAsia crashed at the last contact location,” said the Operations Director of Basarnas, SB Supriyadi yesterday.
Based on the information, the last AirAsia QZ8501 communication was at the coordinates that are on the north side of the Jawa Sea near Karimata Strait.
He said that the search operation location will be carried out as far as 60 nautical miles from the last point.
Meanwhile, Basarnas and the Search and Rescue (SAR) team has mobilised 14 air assets and 26 marine assets to the search location of the ill-fates flight, with 30 bodies found as of January 4.
On December 28, the Indonesian AirAsia aircraft lost radar contact while on route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore with 155 passengers and seven crew members.
The ill-fated plane crashed in the waters near Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, in Indonesia.
NS
