[Breaking news update at 2:51 a.m. ET]
Debris spotted off the coast of Borneo in the area where AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is believed to have gone down is “95% likely” to be from a plane, Bambang Sulistyo, the head of Indonesia’s search-and-rescue agency, said Tuesday.
[Breaking news update at 2:27 a.m. ET]
Family members of the passengers of missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 are being called in to meet with officials at the search and rescue headquarters in Surabaya, TV One reported Tuesday. Video from the scene showed distraught family members entering the building huddled against throngs of cameras surrounding the briefing area.
[Breaking news update at 2:11 a.m. ET]
Search planes are operating off the coast of Borneo, flying over the location of debris that Indonesian authorities say could be related to missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501, officials said Tuesday. The Indonesian Air Force saw debris in three different locations in the search zone at different times of the day, Air Force Spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto told CNN. One clump of debris included what might be a life vest, Tjahjanto said.
[Breaking news update 1:03 a.m. ET]
Indonesian authorities are examining photos of debris that could be from missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501, a Transport Ministry official said Tuesday.
[Full story]
Indonesian authorities are investigating a patch of debris that could be from missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501, a government official said Tuesday.
The debris spotted by a search team is located off the coast of Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island, Djoko Murjatmodjo, an aviation official at the Transport Ministry, told reporters.
The objects are about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the missing plane’s last known location, according to a CNN analysis of the coordinates.
Helicopter teams are preparing to go and examine the location as soon as weather permits, Djoko said.
Photos, which officials are examining, showed a variety of objects floating in the water, including at least one triangular metallic one.
The Indonesian Air Force saw debris in three different locations in the search zone at different times of the day, Air Force Spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto told CNN. One clump of debris included what might be a life vest, Tjahjanto said.
Ships, planes and helicopters have been searching for Flight QZ8501 since it went missing over the Java Sea on Sunday on its way from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Officials have said they are concerned about currents in the sea. If bad weather persists, currents could spread debris before crews get to it.
The Airbus A320-200 with 162 people on board lost contact with air traffic control early Sunday shortly after the pilot requested permission to turn and climb to a higher altitude because of bad weather, according to Indonesian officials.
Indonesian authorities, which are leading the search and rescues efforts, had already been investigating other possible leads in the hunt for the missing plane, including smoke spotted rising from an island in the Java Sea and other floating objects.
Because there is a great deal of traffic along the water in the search area, authorities have cautioned that objects found might have nothing to do with the missing aircraft.
Rescuers say weather was probably a factor in the plane’s disappearance, and it has made finding traces of the plane more difficult. Large waves and clouds have hampered search efforts.