REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PANGKALAN BUN -- Indonesian Military (TNI) commander General Moeldoko visited the USS Sampson and Indonesian warship KRI Banda Aceh to express his gratitude to the foreign vessel for its help in locating victims of AirAsia flight QZ8501.
"I wanted to visit all the foreign ships that participated in looking for the fuselage of the AirAsia aircraft. I could only visit the USS Sampson and KRI Banda Aceh because I was short of time," General Moeldoko said here on Tuesday.
After visiting the USS Sampson, Moeldoko remarked that the weaponry system of the Indonesian Navy must be improved to be at par with those of other countries.
"After visiting the USS Sampson, I think our weaponry system should be improved," he stated.
Related to the deadline for the search and recovery operations of the passengers and AirAsia fuselage, the TNI commander could not confirm the time.
He emphasized that the military would find the bodies of all passengers and the black box of the AirAsia flight.
"The TNI is also ready to help families of the victims lay a wreath at the site of the crash. We will make all preparations and provide boats and Hercules planes," Moeldoko affirmed.
On the tenth day of the search operations, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), assisted by teams from several countries, recovered 39 bodies of the missing AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft.
Director of Operations and Training of the Basarnas S. B. Supriyadi stated here on Tuesday that the team recovered two more bodies.
One body was found by the Malaysian vessel Diraja Kesturi and was transported to Iskandar Airport in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, on a Douolphinn helicopter.
"The second body was found by the Japanese vessel J. S. Onami and moved to the Basarnas ship. It will reach Kumai Port on Tuesday night at around 10 p. m. local time," Supriyadi noted.
Furthermore, bad weather and poor visibility under water have been hindering the search and rescue team's efforts to find the missing aircraft, Supriyadi pointed out.
Basarnas has broadened its search area for the missing AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft by including a second priority area around Kumai Bay, Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan.
Chief of the Basarnas F. H. B. Soelistyo stated on Tuesday that a second priority area had been demarcated outside the first priority search area.
According to Soelistyo, on the tenth day of the search operation, the search and rescue team was deployed to the initially designated four sectors to locate and recover debris and bodies of the victims.
With regard to the second prioritized sector, the joint operations search team will be deployed to search for the fuselage and black box of the missing aircraft.
In the second prioritized search area, the team has been supported by vessels, including Indonesian warships KRI Hasannudin and KRI Usman Harun, and a Geo Survey vessel and Baruna Jaya I ship, which are equipped with devices for underwater operations.
They are working together to search for the missing aircraft using sonar and pinger locater devices," Soelistyo explained.
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