Indonesian Rescuers Say Radars Not Registered AirAsia Crash Locator Beacon

BALI (INDONESIA), December 28 (Sputnik) – Radars of Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have not registered any signals of locator beacon of the AirAsia aircraft, which allegedly crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday, head of Basarnas office in Jakarta said.

“Usually an airplane radio beacon gives the signal in case of external influence. If such an influence took place or if the plane dropped into the water, there should be a signal anyway,” Sutrisno said as quoted by the Detik.com.

Sutrisno added that in case of soft landing on water no signal would be emitted, “except for situations when the beacon is out of order”.

Earlier on Sunday, it was reported that the plane Airbus A320-200 operated by AirAsia company, heading from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore, disappeared from the radars. According to the statement issued by AirAsia, air traffic control lost contact with flight QZ8501 at 07:24 local time (00:24 GMT). The aircraft carried 155 passengers and seven crew members on board. Most passengers on board were Indonesian; three passengers were South Koreans, and one French, Malaysian and Singaporean.

The plane was operated by an Indonesian captain, who had a substantial number of flying hours a total of 6,100, and a French co-pilot with a total of 2,275 flying hours, according to AP.

Basarnas spokesperson previously said the plane had been caught in turbulence, attempted to change the course and had crashed into the sea. Indonesian Ministry of Transportation has not confirmed this information.

Search and rescue operations are underway under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). AirAsia Indonesia is assisting the investigation.

AirAsia Indonesia operates domestic flights within the Indonesian archipelago and international flights to Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Thailand. The company is an affiliate of the Malaysian company AirAsia. In 2007, AirAsia Indonesia was banned from operating flights to the European Union (EU) due to safety concerns; however, the ban was lifted in July 2010, the BBC reports.