Manggar, Bangka Belitung (Antara Babel) - Bad weather has posed a hindrance in the search operation involving seven foreign ships seeking entry into East Belitung waters to locate the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, with 162 people on board.
"Currently, several foreign ships are docking off Manggar, while waiting for the weather to improve," Head of the Manggal naval post Second Lieutenant Purwanto noted here on Tuesday.
Of the seven foreign ships, two are from Singapore and one respectively from Australia, India, Malaysia, China, and South Korea.
According to the Pangkalpinang Meteorology, Climatology, Geophysics Agency (BMKG), bad weather accompanied by heavy rains, thunder storms, and huge waves reaching heights of up to three meters, have been reported in Belitung and East Belitung waters.
Such inclement weather is dangerous for sailing, but the BMKG has forecast that starting noon, the weather would gradually improve.
"The search area has been expanded, and the efforts involve several personnel. However, bad weather is hampering the efforts to comb the sea area," he stated.
The Singapore-bound plane, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact a few minutes after taking off from Juanda International Airport on Sunday morning, and was believed to have gone missing in the waters between Bangka Belitung and West Kalimantan Provinces.
The AirAsia flight QZ8501 was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board.
Captain Iriyanto and First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel were the two pilots aboard the jet along with four cabin crew members: Wanti Setiawati, Khairunnisa Haidar Fauzi, Oscar Desano, and Wismoyo Ari Prambudi, and technician Saiful Rakhmad.
According to AirAsia Indonesia, seven foreigners are among the passengers of the missing plane.
The foreign nationals comprise three Koreans, a Singaporean, a British, a Malaysian, and a First Officer (FO) from France. The 155 others, including six crew members, are Indonesian nationals.
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Bangka Belitung 2014
"Currently, several foreign ships are docking off Manggar, while waiting for the weather to improve," Head of the Manggal naval post Second Lieutenant Purwanto noted here on Tuesday.
Of the seven foreign ships, two are from Singapore and one respectively from Australia, India, Malaysia, China, and South Korea.
According to the Pangkalpinang Meteorology, Climatology, Geophysics Agency (BMKG), bad weather accompanied by heavy rains, thunder storms, and huge waves reaching heights of up to three meters, have been reported in Belitung and East Belitung waters.
Such inclement weather is dangerous for sailing, but the BMKG has forecast that starting noon, the weather would gradually improve.
"The search area has been expanded, and the efforts involve several personnel. However, bad weather is hampering the efforts to comb the sea area," he stated.
The Singapore-bound plane, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact a few minutes after taking off from Juanda International Airport on Sunday morning, and was believed to have gone missing in the waters between Bangka Belitung and West Kalimantan Provinces.
The AirAsia flight QZ8501 was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board.
Captain Iriyanto and First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel were the two pilots aboard the jet along with four cabin crew members: Wanti Setiawati, Khairunnisa Haidar Fauzi, Oscar Desano, and Wismoyo Ari Prambudi, and technician Saiful Rakhmad.
According to AirAsia Indonesia, seven foreigners are among the passengers of the missing plane.
The foreign nationals comprise three Koreans, a Singaporean, a British, a Malaysian, and a First Officer (FO) from France. The 155 others, including six crew members, are Indonesian nationals.
Editor : Aprionis
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Bangka Belitung 2014