Answers about why the aircraft, with 162 people on board, fell from the sky Sunday remained elusive.
Among the seven bodies recovered so far — not 10, as earlier reports had indicated — was that of a woman wearing a flight attendant’s uniform, said Bambang Soelistyo, Indonesia’s national search and rescue chief.
“Reality of seeing the evacuees and some of my aircraft parts are soul destroying,” AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted. The air executive also put to rest rumors of a survivor found in a life jacket, saying that only the life jacket was found in the water.
Sonar may have detected wreckage
There was conflicting information about whether any parts of the plane had been found underwater.
–
The United States is also preparing maritime patrol aircraft that could help, he said.
The flight, which was lost Sunday on its way to Singapore, was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. The overwhelming majority were Indonesians. There were also citizens of Britain, France, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea aboard.
Flight 8501 was operated by AirAsia’s Indonesian affiliate.
CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph reported from Surabaya, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN’s David Molko, Andrew Stevens, Mitra Mobasherat, Gary Tuchman, Brian Walker, Catherine E. Shoichet, Josh Levs and Deborah E. Bloom contributed to this report. Translators Azieza Uhnavy and Edi Pangerapan also contributed to this report.
