Officials: Tail section of AirAsia plane found in Java Sea
Search teams recover more debris as more international help arrives
AirAsia Indonesia flight path. Screengrab (CNN)
Search and rescue teams and flight crew prepare their gear on board an Indonesian Air Force Super Puma helicopter before a search mission for debris and bodies from AirAsia flight QZ8501at Iskandar Air Force Base, in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan January 6, 2015. (Reuters/Veri Sanovri/Pool)
A Malaysian Navy ship is seen from an Indonesian Air Force Super Puma helicopter during a search mission for for AirAsia flight QZ8501 off the coast of Central Kalimantan January 6, 2015. (Reuters/Veri Sanovri/Pool)
Indonesian military chief General Moeldoko, right, walks on deck of the KRI BAnda Aceh navy ship during a search operation for passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501, off the Java sea, January 6, 2015. Search teams including divers took advantage of a let-up in bad weather on Tuesday to try to reach the wreckage of an AirAsia jet that crashed nine days ago, and to recover bodies and find its black box flight recorders. Indonesian officials believe they may have located the tail and parts of the fuselage of the Airbus A320-200 at the bottom of the Java Sea, but strong currents, high winds and big waves have hindered attempts to investigate the debris. (Reuters/Antara Foto/Suryanto/Pool)
Indonesian military chief General Moeldoko, right, shakes hand with soldiers participating in a joint during search operation search onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501, on deck of KRI Banda Aceh navy ship on the Java sea, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. Search teams including divers took advantage of a let-up in bad weather on Tuesday to try to reach the wreckage of an AirAsia jet that crashed nine days ago, and to recover bodies and find its black box flight recorders. (Reuters/Antara Foto/Suryanto/Pool)
Workers assemble a beacon buoy that will placed on the site where, according to officials, the tail of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been located, near Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun January 5, 2015. An Indonesian naval patrol vessel has found what could be the tail of a crashed AirAsia passenger jet, the section where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located, officials said on Monday. REUTERS/Beawiharta (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Rescue team members look out toward the ship KRI Banda Aceh as dark clouds fill the sky during a search operation for passengers onboard AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea January 4, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta
Rescue team members in a boat communicate with other members of the team on the deck of the Search and Rescue (SAR) ship KN Purworejo during a search operation for passengers onboard AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea January 4, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta
Parts of AirAsia QZ8501, recovered from the Java Sea, are carried by Indonesian Airforce and Search and Rescue crew members after they were offloaded from a U.S. Navy helicopter at the airport in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)
Parts of AirAsia QZ8501, recovered from the Java Sea, are carried by Indonesian Airforce and Search and Rescue crew after they were offloaded from a U.S. Navy helicopter at the airport in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)
The body of an AirAsia QZ8501 passenger, recovered from the Java Sea, is placed on a stretcher after it was transported by an Indonesia Search and Rescue helicopter at an airbase Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)
A group of divers in a boat (L) travel toward the KRI Banda Aceh ship during the search operation for passengers onboard AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea January 4, 2015. Bad weather forced divers trying to identify sunken wreckage from the crashed AirAsia passenger jet to abort their mission on Sunday and Indonesian officials said they had not yet picked up any signals from the lost plane's "black box". The Airbus A320-200 crashed into the Java Sea about 40 minutes after taking off last Sunday from Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya en route for Singapore. There were no survivors. REUTERS/Beawiharta (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT MARITIME TRANSPORT)
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The tail section of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 has been found, Indonesian search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo said Wednesday.
Searchers have been scouring the choppy waters of the Java Sea for remains from the commercial jet since it lost contact on December 28 with 162 people on board.
Finding the tail section is significant because that is where flight recorders are located in the Airbus 320-200, the aircraft model of Flight QZ8501.
Soelistyo’s said the tail had been found by side-scan sonar in the second priority area where searchers have been looking for wreckage. He said they confirmed it was from the plane from lettering that could be seen on it.
The search and rescue agency released images, one showing what appeared to be the letters A and X, another showing the word “Air” from the AirAsia logo.
Search teams had previously located several large pieces of wreckage believed to be from the plane, but none of them as significant as the tail.
Soelistyo also said Wednesday that another body had been found, bringing the total to 40.
