Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the government was working closely with the Indonesian authorities in carrying out the latter’s ‘recovery’ plan.
“Our three vessels and three aircraft are still there to assist them in the recovery plan,” he told a press conference after the handing over of contributions for east coast flood victims, here.
AirAsia Indonesia had acknowledged that debris found yesterday in the Karimata Strait, about 110 nautical miles south west of Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimatan, was indeed from its missing Flight QZ8501, as confirmed by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
Flight QZ8501, using an Airbus A320-200 aircraft with 162 passengers and crew on board, took off from Surabaya, Indonesia, at 5.20 am Sunday and was scheduled to arrive at Changi Airport, Singapore, at 8.30 am on the same day.
The last time the aircraft communicated with the air traffic control tower was at 6.12 am Indonesian time (7.12 am Malaysian time).
The passengers and crew on the aircraft were from Indonesia (155), South Korea (three) and one each from Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France.
— BERNAMA
