Free Republic

A previous effort to the raise the wreckage on Saturday was also foiled when sharp parts of the debris sliced through a strap connecting the fuselage to a giant balloon, the search agency said. Officials are trying to float the 13-meter (43-foot) piece of wreckage to the surface and then hoist it onto a waiting ship. But strong winds, high waves and heavy rain prevented the Indonesian Navy divers from having another go Sunday at raising the fuselage, officials said. Divers successfully carried out a similar procedure with the tail section of the aircraft earlier this month.

An AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last month with 162 people on board climbed at a faster than normal speed and then stalled, the Indonesian transport minister said Tuesday. Flight QZ8501 went down on Dec. 28 in stormy weather, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Indonesia's meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash, and investigators are analysing the data from the jet's black boxes before releasing a preliminary report. Just moments before the plane disappeared off the radar, the pilot had asked...

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite being an investigator for almost two decades, analysing the Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 will be one of the toughest challenging for Nurcahyo Utomo, who knew the pilot personally. The National Transportation Safety Committee investigator, Nurchayo said listening to recording from black boxes over and over again can be disturbing and requires utmost mental strength. “Listening to the playback of a black box involved in a crash is not like listening to music or a discussion. “We are listening to a recording that represents the last moments before the crash and it is disturbing. There are times where...