Update | First pictures of AirAsia wreckage taken after tail is found on seabed
Breakthrough in search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 as rescue teams locate the tail section expected to contain its 'black box' recorders, which could explain the cause of the crash
Recovery teams have found the tail of the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea, the Indonesian search chief said on Wednesday, the eleventh day of relief operations.
“We have successfully obtained part of the plane that has been our target. The tail portion has been confirmed found,” search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in Jakarta.
"I can confirm that what we found was the tail part from the pictures," he said, adding that the team "is still desperately trying to locate the black box," he said.
The discovery on the seabed could mark a breakthrough in the search as the tail of a plane usually houses the “black box” flight data recorders, crucial to determining the cause of a crash.
No pings have been detected from the plane’s all-important cockpit voice and flight data recorders. That’s because high waves have prevented the deployment of ships that drag ping locators.
