Update | Four 'large parts' of jet found underwater as Indonesia queries AirAsia licence
Indonesian searchers locate four "large parts" believed to part of the missing jet in the Java Sea as authorities announce an investigation into all the airline's flight schedules.
National Search and Rescue Agency Chief Vice Marshall Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference that the objects -- the largest of which is about 18 metres by 2.2 metres in size – were detected from Friday to Saturday by sonar from an Indonesian naval vessel, two Indonesian geological survey ships and Singaporean naval vessel RSS Persistence.
He said it was determined that the four objects, which are close to each other, are ”parts of the AirAsia plane we have been looking for” based partly on their dimensions and on the finding of oil slicks in that same area earlier on Friday.
“It might be possible to revoke AirAsia’s license in Indonesia.”
”We tried to send an ROV [remotely operated underwater vehicle] to the seabed to get the visual images of the objects, but we failed due to strong underwater current, the speed of which was about 2 knots,” he said, while noting the objects are at a depth of about 30 meters. He added that the waves were as high as five metres.
The development came after Indonesia's transport ministry announced the flight had taken an "unauthorised" schedule, prompting it to freeze AirAsia's permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route.
The ministry would investigate all AirAsia flight schedules from Monday, a government official told reporters on Saturday, as part of a government probe into the crash.