Search for AirAsia plane expands to land; no clue yet

The multinational search for the missing AirAsia flight entered the third day today after a futile day-long scanning of the Java Sea, where the Airbus 320-200 is believed to have gone down with 162 passengers and crew, didn't yield any results yesterday.

About 30 ships and 15 aircraft continue searching for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, which went off radar on Sunday morning on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The search is divided and extended to cover land area on the Indonesian province of Kalimantan.

Aircraft and ships from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and South Korea have been deployed to scan the rough and choppy waters of Java Sea, according to media reports. The US destroyer USS Sampson is on its way to the zone.
India, China, Britain and France have also offered help in the search and locate operation with offer to arrange for planes, naval ships, experts and investigators, the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency said.

Several sightings, including something that resembled oil spill east of Belitung island, turned out to be false alarms.

The search by Indonesian Air Force planes spotted two pools of possible oil slick yesterday but these were later determined to be shadows from underwater coral. Two fishermen who reported hearing or seeing the plane are being taken out today by search and rescue teams to that area.

The search teams are also checking the area where Indonesian navy helicopter crews saw smoke, but authorities do not know whether there is any connection to the missing jet.

The search area, originally divided into seven sectors, is now being expanded to 13, covering air, sea and land.

The search area between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded, Soelistyo said.

Authorities would begin scouring islands in the area as well as land on Indonesia's side of Borneo. So far the focus of the search has been the Java Sea.

Yesterday, Soelistyo had said that the "preliminary suspicion" may be that the plane is at the bottom of the sea.

The Airbus A320-200 was flying over the Java Sea in Indonesian airspace when communication with air traffic control ceased about 42 minutes after take-off.

The aircraft was to land at Singapore's Changi Airport at 8:30 am. The pilot had asked for a new route minutes before he went off the radio, air traffic control has said.

The plane's last detected position was 100 nautical miles south-east of Tanjung Pandan on Belitung Island.

The flight was carrying 155 passengers -- one British, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, three South Koreans, 149 Indonesians -- and seven crew members -- six Indonesians and a French co-pilot.

Seventeen of the passengers were children. There were no Indian nationals on board.