Flight QZ8501 Tragedy: Tail Of Plane Raised

JAKARTA, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- The tail of the ill-fated plane in the AirAsia QZ8501 tragedy which was detected three days ago was raised to the surface from the sea bottom Saturday. It is Saturday on transport vessel Crest Onyx which is heading to Pangkalan Bun in Kalimantan where it will be analysed, in particular to find the black box. The operation to raise the tail took more than seven hours and was done using six floating bags. Indonesia's MetroTV television station broadcast live developments on the mission to bring up the tail, which appeared to be severely damaged. The tail was reported to be in an upside down position at the muddy sea bottom at the crash site in the Java Sea off Pengkalan Bun. Reports also said the it was uncertain whether the black box was still in the tail section or became detached due to the impact of the crash. The search mission handled by Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and supported by various countries including Malaysia entered its 14th day Saturday. So far the remains of 48 victims have been recovered with 29 of them identified. AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 crashed on Dec 28 while flying 155 passengers and seven crew from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. Those on board the missing flight comprise 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, a Singaporean, a Malaysian, a Briton and a French. -- BERNAMA