Recovery of AirAsia 8501 Tail Wing Thwarted By Current, Divers Say

Search and rescue teams in Indonesia are reportedly having a difficult time recovering the discovered tail wing of AirAsia 8501 due to strong currents in the Java Sea.

Indonesian military divers are reportedly battling a strong current in an effort to retrieve the wing tail, which was found about 20 miles from where the plane, carrying 162 passengers, crashed into the sea on December 28.

The wing tail has been the goal item in the search for the missing airliner, as it is on this part of the plane that the black box is kept, which will provide insight into how the plane crashed nearly two weeks ago.

Getting close to the wing tail has also proven difficult due to large waves and murky, muddy waters, search rescue teams report.

Suryadi B. Surpiyadi, who is coordinating the search and rescue effort from a nearby air force base, told The Hindu that the divers are going to try to figure out how to remove the black box from the wing tail without removing the entire object.

"Expert teams from Indonesia and France are now looking for a technique on how to find and lift the black boxes from the plane's tail," Surpiyadi said.

Underwater photos taken of the wing tail show an upside down "A" that matches the AirAsia logo on other commercial airliners belonging to the company. The plane's tail was reportedly discovered with the use of sonar.

Search teams have also successfully discovered other parts of the plane, including an emergency exit door and luggage, as well as corpses still strapped into their seats.