Nine days since AirAsia Flight 8501 went missing, rescue teams, which have come to aid in the search operations, still have a long way to go. But wreckage, which has a high probability of being the tail end of the plane, has been found and teams hope it would finally bring answers to the question why the plane crashed.
According to Reuters, a naval patrol vessel from Indonesia has found debris from the plan, which could be the tail of the plane. The captain of the patrol vessel who discovered the wreckage said, "We found what has a high probability of being the tail of the plane."
Should the fragment discovered prove to be the plane's rear, it will play a very crucial role in solving the mystery of the crash as black box recorders are located on every plane's tail.
Indonesian officials are still verifying if the wreckage found is indeed the tail, according to USA Today. National Search and Rescue Agency head, Bambang Soelistyo said, "That is suspected. Now we are trying to confirm it."
Meanwhile, the search for the remaining missing bodies has been temporarily halted due to bad weather. Director of Operations Suryadi Supriyadi said, "Time is of the essence... but it seems like it is hard to beat the weather."
Divers, who are trying to retrieve more wreckage and bodies are faced with strong currents which are making search and retrieval operations difficult, noted International Business Times.
Out of the 162 people on the plane, 37 bodies have already been found. 13 of these have already been identified. Three more bodies, which were still wearing their seat belts, have been found in the area near the wreckage of the possible tail. They have already been sent to experts who will aid in identifying them.
Around 229 experts are working to identify the bodies based from DNA samples. The samples come from relatives of those on-board. Out of the 162 people on-board, 146 samples are already with officials and sent to the experts.
Forensic specialists from other nations such as Australia and Singapore are already in the country to help out with the identification process, reported ABC.net.
Australia has also committed to send an expert in black box recordings once retrieved. According to a representative from the Federal Government, "The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has agreed to an Indonesian request to provide a flight recorder specialist when needed."
