AirAsia plane search: Objects spotted

Several objects suspected of being parts of the missing AirAsia passenger plane were spotted in Indonesian waters Tuesday.

The Airbus A320-200 with 162 on board, disappeared from the radar screen 42 minutes after it took off from Surabaya in Indonesia's East Java province Sunday.

The objects were found around 190 km away from Pangkalan Bun of Central Kalimatan on the Borneo island, an Air Force official said.

"In the area, several objects with colours of orange, white, brown and black have been spotted. And they are small," Xinhua quoted the official as saying.

A search team has been sent to the scene to verify the latest findings, the official added.

Earlier in the day, smoke was also spotted in Long island, one of the thousands that make up the Indonesian archipelago.

The search has expanded to land areas, with helicopters beginning the search in Kalimantan island as well as other islands in the area.

The number of areas to be scoured has increased to 13 from seven, covering some 60,000 square nautical miles, he said.

So far, the search has been focused on Java Sea, between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

Besides Indonesia and Singapore, US, Malaysia and Australia have also joined the search and rescue operations.