(6 Jan 2015) Two more bodies from the crashed AirAsia plane were recovered on Tuesday, bringing the number of bodies found to 39.
Strong currents forced Indonesia to expand the search area on Tuesday, as rough seas and bad weather moved debris and made it difficult to reach suspected chunks of the fuselage on the ocean floor.
There are concerns that it will become harder to find the remaining corpses.
The National Search and Rescue Agency's director of operation, Suryadi B. Supriyadi said time was of the essence in the search operation but the weather was hampering efforts.
"(Today's search) is still not going as we expected so we will wait again until tomorrow because today we're still facing extreme weather conditions."
The search operation will expand by about 185 square kilometres (70 square miles), the search and rescue chief said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's National Armed forces commander, General Moeldoko, went onboard a US Navy seahawk helicopter to visit the USS Sampson, one of the many ships involved in searching for the AirAsia plane.
Dozens of new air carriers have popped up in Indonesia in recent years to meet the industry's booming demand, but a string of deadly accidents has raised concerns about safety.
Experts say poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of trained personnel are largely to blame.
Infrastructure has also failed to keep pace with exploding demand.
The country's transportation ministry said it was cracking down after it was discovered that Flight 8501 did not have a permit to fly between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore on the day of the crash.
It suspended two ministry officials and five workers at Surabaya's main airport Tuesday for allowing the flight.
Others are still under investigation.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
