Suryadi Supriyadi, director of operations for the country's National Search and Rescue Agency, said early Tuesday in Indonesia that poor weather conditions thus far have made it difficult to locate parts of the plane believed identified underwater by sonar and to recover the 125 bodies still missing.
"Time is of the essence … but it seems like it is hard to beat the weather," Supriyadi said.
Divers were forced to return to their ships on Monday by rough seas. The Airbus 320 crashed Dec. 28 while over water on a flight to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, with 162 passengers and crew. So far, 37 bodies have been recovered.
A day earlier, officials said a search vessel may have located the section of doomed flight that contains the black box voice and data recorders.
"We found what has a high probability of being the tail of the plane," Yayan Sofyan, commander of Indonesian Navy ship KRI Bung Tomo, said Monday at a news conference. He said the tail should contain the black boxes — the flight data and voice recorders. His vessel was able to recover other debris that was handed over to authorities, he said.
Indonesian authorities did not immediately confirm the discovery. "I am not saying it's the tail yet," said Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency. "That is suspected. Now we are trying to confirm it."
Rainy, foggy weather has hamstrung search efforts for the wreckage of the Airbus A320-200, which plunged into the murky waters of the Java Sea on Dec. 28 with 162 people on board.
So far 37 bodies have been recovered. Sonar has detected what appears to be several large pieces of the plane in the water. None had been found by divers, whose efforts have been constantly delayed by the weather.
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Answering what caused AirAsia crash is rigorous process
Also Monday, Indonesia announced sanctions against airport officials who allowed AirAsia Flight 8501 to take off without proper permits from Surabaya, Indonesia, bound for Singapore.
The Transportation Ministry said it suspended the operator of the Surabaya airport as well as several control tower officials. In addition, the licenses and schedules of all airlines flying into Indonesia will be scrutinized.
The plane was traveling on a Sunday. Officials have since said its permit for the popular route was only for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and that AirAsia quietly switched three of those days. Officials in Singapore, however, have said the plane was authorized to fly on Sundays from its end.
The Transportation Ministry also has imposed mandatory briefings between pilots and flight operation officers prior to departures, the ministry's acting director general for air transportation, Djoko Murjatmodjo, told The Jakarta Post. Authorities said such meetings would keep pilots informed of possible emergencies that could emerge on specific routes.
All AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore have been suspended while the airline is investigated.
