By I Made Sentana
JAKARTA, Indonesia--Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency on
Tuesday started a one-week break from searching for the remaining
bodies of passengers aboard AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed into
the Java Sea on Dec. 28.
Tatang Zaenudin, deputy operations officer at the agency, said
the search would resume next week, but with fewer people and
equipment. They would continue the search for an additional week
before halting operations for good, he said.
The crews were in need of rest after more than two months of
operations, often hampered by bad weather, to bring up the wreckage
of the aircraft and remains of the passengers and crew, Mr.
Zaenudin said.
Mr. Zaenudin spoke in Surabaya, where the flight originated. The
crashed plane was bound for Singapore with 162 passengers and crew
on board. The remains of about 60 people remain unaccounted
for.
The agency pulled up the final major part of the fuselage and
wing of the Airbus A320 last Friday, but no bodies were inside and
hopes dimmed that more remains would be found. Mr. Zaenudin said
that some recent findings were only body parts.
Authorities haven't announced the cause of the crash, but the
plane climbed steeply before going into a stall and descent. The
agency handed over the mangled fuselage to the National
Transportation Safety Committee at Jakarta's port for further
investigation.
Write to I Made Sentana at i-made.sentana@wsj.com
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