Indonesian rescue teams said Wednesday they may have found the wreck of a downed AirAsia plane on the ocean floor off Borneo, as bad weather hampered search and recovery efforts.
Hernanto, head of the search and rescue agency in Surabaya, told Reuters that believed they had found the plane on the sea bed with a sonar scan in water 100-165 feet deep. But AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes later told reporters that there was "nothing confirmed.” The possible wreckage that was spotted Wednesday had likely drifted about 30 miles due to choppy waters, said Vice Air Marshal Sunarbowo Sandi, search and rescue coordinator in Pangkalan Bun on Borneo island. Conditions were expected to worsen, with heavier rainfall, through Friday, according to The Associated Press.
Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said that seven bodies — including a flight attendant still wearing her red AirAsia uniform — have been recovered, along with a life raft. Two of the recovered bodies were sent to Surabaya in coffins - numbered 001 and 002 – for autopsy, according to the AP. The other five bodies remained on a warship.
"The air plane fuselage has not been found yet," Soelistyo told reporters. Tatang Zaenudi, another official with the search and rescue agency, initially told Reuters that one body recovered was wearing a life jacket but later said that was not the case.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo inspected the site from a military aircraft and said he was throwing all the resources of his government behind recovering the 155 passengers and seven crew members, none of whom authorities said are believed to have survived. Ships and planes from a number of nations are scouring the Karimata Strait, which divides Sumatra and Borneo, for AirAsia Flight QZ8510.
"All parties are involved in the massive search operations to find the AirAsia plane, its passengers and crew," Widodo said.
The Airbus A320-200 disappeared from radar on Sunday.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
