AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Crash Latest News: Sonar Locates Debris, Explosion May Have Caused Accident
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 has been found.
Indonesian searchers have finally found the wreckage of the Airbus A320-200 at the bottom of the Java Sea using sonar equipment. A search and rescue official told CNN on Wednesday that the agency still couldn't confirm if the plane is still intact or already broken up.
Earlier this week, parts of the missing aircraft and six bloated bodies – three men and three women - were found 100-200 kilometers from the last known location of the fallen plane.
The find came out as first proof that the plane had indeed crashed. Family members who were waiting for the news in Surabaya, Indonesia broke into grief and tears when they saw the coverage via an Indonesian TV station.
As to what caused the tragic flight accident, Meghan Keneally of ABC News indicated in her report that a small explosion caused the commercial flight to crash.
Former Air Force pilot and ABC News consultant John Nance speculated that a bomb may have gone off onboard, which would explain why the plane went off radar that quickly.
"Maybe one that wasn't strong enough to blow the airplane into pieces at altitude, but maybe one that blew the control cables from the hydraulics," Nance said.
The AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared from radar 40 minutes after it took off from Surabaya enroute to Singapore on Dec. 27, at 22:35 GMT.
Before contact was lost, the pilots have requested permission from flight control to go higher in order to avoid a thunderstorm.
According to reports, those who have vanished with the passenger plane were 137 adults, 18 children, two pilots, and five in-flight attendants.
