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           Possible Objects Spotted in Search for Missing AirAsia Jet

   by VOA News

   Indonesian officials have spotted objects they believe could be
   wreckage from an AirAsia passenger jet that went missing during poor
   weather Sunday.

   Images from Indonesian television showed several objects floating in
   the water of the Java Sea, where a massive, multi-nation search is
   being conducted.

   The French news agency, which had reporters on a plane that spotted the
   objects, said the material appears to resemble an emergency slide and
   plane door.

   The exact location of the possible debris is not clear.

   Authorities on Tuesday expanded the search for AirAsia Flight 8501,
   which disappeared halfway through its short route from the Indonesian
   city of Surabaya to Singapore.

   At least 30 ships, 15 aircraft and seven helicopters are looking for
   the plane in the Java Sea between Borneo and Sumatra islands.

   Authorities said Tuesday the search zone would widen to include land
   areas and smaller islands in the region.

   Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Sulistyo said 156,000
   square kilometers are being searched.

   "After we analyzed it, counted it, and evaluated it, we decided to
   widen the search area to 13 [separate] search areas," said Sulistyo.

   No trace of the plane has turned up, despite several initially
   promising leads. Officials said Tuesday an oil spill located a day
   earlier was not jet fuel.

   The search effort will be bolstered Tuesday with the arrival of a U.S.
   Navy warship. The USS Sampson, which was already on deployment in the
   area, is equipped with sonar devices that can scan underwater.

   Indonesian officials on Monday said it is likely the Airbus A320-200,
   which was carrying 162 people, is at the bottom of the sea.

   The passengers include 149 Indonesians, 3 South Koreans, and one each
   from Britain, Malaysia, and Singapore. The crew included 6 Indonesians
   and a French co-pilot.

   The twin-engine plane gave no distress signals before disappearing,
   though pilots had asked permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid
   a storm cloud.

   Indonesian officials say that permission was not granted because other
   planes were in the area. The jet was instead approved to fly around the
   storm.

   The plane was operated by the Indonesian affiliate of AirAsia, a
   Malaysian-based low-cost airline that previously had a spotless safety
   record.

   The disappearance comes at the end of a disastrous year for plane
   travel in Southeast Asia.

   In March, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while en route from
   Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane, which was carrying 239 people, is
   believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean off the western coast of
   Australia, though no trace of it has been found.

   Two months later, in July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in
   eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Western officials
   believe that plane was shot down by Moscow-backed Ukrainian rebels.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/rescuers-expand-search-for-missing-ai
   rasia-jet/2578542.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/rescuers-expand-search-for-missing-airasia-jet/2578542.html