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46 Bodies From Jet Are Found; Weather Still Slows Search Two Large Pieces of AirAsia Jet Are Found As Searchers Recover 46 Bodies From Sea
(35 minutes later)
SURABAYA, Indonesia — Rescue officials said on Friday that they had recovered 46 bodies and identified three by the end of the sixth day of search operations for the missing Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501, but that stormy seas had prevented them from deploying sophisticated sonar equipment. SURABAYA, Indonesia — Indonesian officials said Saturday that two large pieces of the Airbus A320-200 jetliner that plunged into the Java Sea on Sunday had been found. The wreckage was located by sonar equipment, but divers had not yet been able examine it because of high waves and perilous currents, according to the National Search and Rescue Agency.
Marsma Supriyadi, director of operations for the National Search and Rescue Agency in Indonesia, said eight of the bodies were sent to Surabaya, the capital of East Java. On Friday, officials said that they had recovered 46 bodies and identified three by the end of the sixth day of search operations.
“With luck we’ll find more, because search operations are continuing,” he told reporters in Pangkalan Bun, close to the site where wreckage from the airliner was discovered on Tuesday. The plane, en route to Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday about an hour after leaving Surabaya on what was supposed to be a flight of about 90 minutes. An Indonesian official told a local television station some of the bodies were still belted into their seats.
Three bodies were positively identified after extensive forensic examination, including DNA and dental tests, Mr. Supriyadi said. The three were an AirAsia flight attendant and two passengers, he said. The official, Marsma Supriyadi, director of operations for the search and rescue agency, said eight of the bodies that had been recovered were sent to Surabaya, the capital of East Java.
In the waters off Pangkalan Bun, international experts with acoustic equipment joined teams searching for the missing plane on Friday, but continuing bad weather held back efforts to hunt for the plane’s flight data recorders. “With luck we’ll find more, because search operations are continuing,” he told reporters in Pangkalan Bun, close to the site where wreckage from the airliner was discovered on Tuesday. AirAsia Flight 8501, en route to Singapore, crashed on Sunday about an hour after leaving Surabaya on what was supposed to be a flight of about 90 minutes.
Three bodies were positively identified after forensic examinations, including DNA and dental tests, Mr. Supriyadi said. The three were an AirAsia flight attendant and two passengers, he added.
In the waters off Pangkalan Bun, international experts with acoustic equipment joined teams searching for the missing plane on Friday, but continuing bad weather held back efforts to hunt for the plane’s flight data recorders.
Two ships carrying hydrophones, or underwater listening devices, embarked from Pangkalan Bun. Experts from the French accident inquiry agency B.E.A., which investigates the crashes of all Airbus planes, were aboard one of the vessels.Two ships carrying hydrophones, or underwater listening devices, embarked from Pangkalan Bun. Experts from the French accident inquiry agency B.E.A., which investigates the crashes of all Airbus planes, were aboard one of the vessels.
The search-and-rescue authorities said waves 10 to 16 feet high were holding back recovery operations at the site. About seven of the bodies that were found on Friday were recovered by a United States Navy ship using acoustic technology, according the search-and-rescue officials. An American Navy helicopter brought the bodies to Pangkalan Bun.
About seven of the bodies that were found on Friday were recovered by a United States Navy ship using acoustic technology, according the search-and-rescue officials. A Navy helicopter took the bodies to Pangkalan Bun. The search and rescue authorities said waves 10 feet to 16 feet high held back recovery operations on Friday, but that conditions had improved somewhat by Saturday.
Nine planes with metal detectors were scouring a 8,380-square-mile zone off Pangkalan Bun.
In Surabaya, relatives of missing AirAsia passengers gathered at the police hospital, waiting for news or possible identification. “Many are still hoping,” said Agus Johan, a grief counselor with the Buddhist Tzu Chi foundation on standby to comfort relatives. 
After Friday Prayer, more than 200 Muslims held a prayer session for the AirAsia victims at a mosque next to the police hospital where the bodies were being kept in Surabaya.