Debris from Air Asia plane discovered

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have confirmed that the objects and corpses spotted are from the missing AirAsia plane and they will be brought to Pangkalan Aju in Pangkalan Bun of Central Kalimantan province, the nearest place to the location of the finding.

The bodies will be sent to Surabaya, the capital of East Java province where the plane took off, for identification, said Bambang Sulistyo, head of the national search and rescue agency.

Local media reported that 40 bodies have been recovered, citing the country’s Navy spokesperson.

At a press conference earlier Tuesday, Sulistyo said “At 12:50 Jakarta time, Indonesian Air Force’s Hercules plane found a shadow which looks like part of a plane.”

“At 13:30 Jakarta time (rescuers aboard) the Indonesian Navy warship Bung Tomo saw an object believed to be an emergency exit door of a plane,” said Sulistyo.

“With all the findings, I am as the coordinator of search and rescue 95 percent sure the location and the objects are parts of the plane that we are searching for.”

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 vanished from the radar screen 42 minutes after taking off from Surabaya, Indonesia, on Sunday.

The Singapore-bound Airbus 320-200 carried 162 people, including 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Malaysia, Singapore, Britain and France.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said on Tuesday that his heart was filled with sadness for all families involved in Flight QZ8501.

“On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am,” he said on his twitter account, adding that he was rushing to Surabaya.