Attempt to lift AirAsia wreckage fails

Jan 26, 2015

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Members of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee work on the tail of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 at Kumai port, Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia, Jan. 12, 2015. After days of search, Indonesian navy divers have finally succeeded in retrieving the flight data recorder (FDR) of the crashed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea, shedding light on determining the cause of the fatal crash with 162 people onboard. — Members of Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee work on the tail of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 at Kumai port, Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia, Jan. 12, 2015. After days of search, Indonesian navy divers have finally succeeded in retrieving the flight data recorder (FDR) of the crashed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea, shedding light on determining the cause of the fatal crash with 162 people onboard.

A new attempt to lift the submerged fuselage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 failed when a wire rope snapped after the wreckage reached the surface of the water, Indonesian officials said.

“The fuselage appeared at the surface, but the rope broke and it fell down again,” said Suryadi B. Supriyadi, director of operations and training for Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, CNN reported.

A previous effort to the raise the wreckage 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 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.

Flight QZ8501 went down in the Java Sea Dec 28 as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya toward Singapore with 162 people on board.

As the fuselage neared the surface Sunday, one body appeared in the water and was retrieved, the military said. It’s the 70th recovered so far during weeks of searching.