REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA, The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) will focus its efforts on finding the black box of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 that has gone missing on Sunday (December 28).

"Once the tail is found, we will ascertain whether the black box is still positioned in the tail section or whether it has moved from its original position," Chief of Basarnas FH Bambang Soelistyo said here on Thursday (7/1).

To ensure this, Basarnas has been coordinating with the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) and divers in the field.

"A black box requires special attention during its retrieval and evacuation," he added.

At 6:45 a.m. local time, he noted, the team returned to dive in the area where the tail has been found. Due to poor visibility under the sea, the divers only retrieved the flight's debris and moved it to a ship.

The strength of ocean currents in search locations reached 3 to 5 knots forcing a team of divers to wait for better currents.

Furthermore, Soelistyo explained, if the black box stays in its right place, its retrieval should be coordinated with the NTSC.

Finger locators, which can help detect the black box of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, have yet to be operated in the search area where the jet's tail has been found, the Indonesian search agency authority said here Thursday.

"We have yet to use finger locators because we first want to make sure that the black box is in the tail compartment," Soelistyo stressed.

For operating finger locators, the search area should be cleared of vessels, he said, adding that Basarnas-led search mission on Day 12 has been focusing on finding the ill-fated aircraft's black box.

Soelistyo pointed out that if the black box is in the tail compartment, Basarnas should coordinate with the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) to discuss the best way to lift the debris.

"So a decision is to be made by the KNKT's authority. We will help. We have already provided them with the Crest Onyx vessel that is equipped with a crane," he revealed.

The tail of the AirAsia plane, which crashed with 162 people on board in Karimata Strait waters near Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan Province, on its way from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore on December 28, 2014, was found on Wednesday.

A team of Indonesian Navy divers recovered the tail from the bottom of the Java Sea.

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