Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia: Strong currents forced Indonesia to expand the search area for the crashed AirAsia plane on Tuesday, as rough seas and bad weather pushed debris and made it difficult to reach suspected chunks of the fuselage on the ocean floor. With only 37 bodies recovered since Flight 8501 crashed Dec. 28, there are also concerns that it will become harder to find the remaining corpses.
“Time is of the essence,” said the National Search and Rescue Agency’s director of operation, Suryadi B. Supriyadi. “But it seems like it is hard to beat the weather.” The search operation will expand by about 185 square kms, search and rescue chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said. Dozens of new air carriers have popped up in Indonesia in recent years to meet the industry’s booming demand, but a string of deadly accidents has raised concerns about safety.
Experts say poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of trained personnel are largely to blame.The country’s transportation ministry said it was cracking down after it was discovered that Flight 8501 did not have a permit to fly between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore on the day of the crash.
