Search for missing AirAsia jet expands

Countries around Asia on Tuesday stepped up the search for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that is presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast, with Washington also sending a warship to help find the missing jet.


Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told local television the search area between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded. Authorities would also begin scouring nearby islands as well as coastal land on Indonesia's side of Borneo.


So far the focus of the search has been the Java Sea.


There have been no confirmed signs of wreckage from the Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia, which disappeared in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.


The missing plane, which was carrying mainly Indonesians, could be at the bottom of the sea, Soelistyo said on Monday.


The Java Sea is relatively shallow, making it easier to spot wreckage in the water, say oceanographers, but strong currents and winds in the area mean any debris would be drifting up to 50 km (31 miles) a day east, away from the impact zone.


"The lesson that should be learned from MH370 is that you need to move quickly," said Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing on March 8 during a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and which has not been found.


Around 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea would search up to 10,000 square nautical miles on Tuesday, officials said.


Indonesian Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said authorities would investigate an oil spill sighted on Monday, although a separate possible slick turned out to be a reef.


Searchers had investigated several areas where possible debris had been sighted in the water but had found nothing connected to the missing plane, Tjahjanto told Reuters.


Authorities would also investigate reports by local fishermen of an explosion on Sunday morning off an island in the area, Tjahjanto added, although dynamite fishing is common in Indonesian waters.


The U.S. military said the USS Sampson, a guided missile destroyer, would be on the scene later on Tuesday.


"We stand ready to assist in any way possible," Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said. (Toronto Sun)