REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KOTAWARINGIN -- The fuselage of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 is expected to be recovered soon after nine days of search, according to an official.
The search area has been narrowed after nine days of the search operation, Tonny Budiono of the transportation ministry's maritime transportation directorate general noted here on Tuesday (6/1).
Patrol ship Trisula, which was deployed from Tanjung Priok Seaport, Jakarta, began the search at 8 a.m. local time from Panglima Utar seaport, he revealed.
Trisula carries a team of the Agency for Research and Application of Technology (BPPT), a Malaysian consultant, and an autonomous underwater vehicle.
"It is the ninth day of the search amid uncertain weather. Hopefully, today, the weather is better, bright, and the fuselage could be recovered soon," he noted.
Some 37 bodies have been recovered, so far, and 13 of them have been identified and returned to their families.
The aircraft, which served the Surabaya-Singapore flight route, had gone missing on Sunday (Dec. 28).
Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC, was piloted by Captain Iriyanto who had clocked 20.5 thousand flying hours.
The plane was carrying 162 people on board, comprising 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a Singaporean, a Malaysian, a British and a French national.
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