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Roundup: Indonesia to entirely end AirAsia search operation in next two weeks

Xinhua, March 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Indonesia decided to entirely end the search operation for bodies of passengers and wreckage of the AirAsia QZ8501 in the next two weeks, an official from Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said on Monday.

"After all there would be an end to everything. It would be conducted at a maximum period of two weeks. After that, everything would be entirely finished," Basarnas Chairman F. Henry Bambang Soelistyo said after the mangled fuselage of AirAsia Airbus A320- 200 plane arrived in Jakarta's Tanjung Priok seaport on Monday, adding that the upcoming search would be conducted by small-scaled operation.

The operation will extend maximum of two weeks to seek the remaining bodies which hadn't been recovered by the team.

The lifting up and evacuation of the plane's major part was part of the final stage of the search mission, Bambang said.

The Basarnas carried out the operation since late last month after the military pulled out from the activities in Jan. 27.

Besides Indonesia, the operation was joined by several countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Russia, the United States, China, Japan and South Korea.

Air Asia QZ8501 was crashed in Karimata Strait enroute from Indonesia's city of Surabaya for Singapore on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people onboard.

So far 103 passengers and crews have been retrieved from the crashed plane.

The search and evacuate operation was marred by frequent heavy weather in the crash location that forced the team to delay their search activities.

On Jan. 29, Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) submitted preliminary reports from its investigation into the plane's blackboxes to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Citing to results of KNKT investigation, Head of Investigator Sumardjo Siswosuwarno said that QZ8501 was under control of the co- pilot when the crash occurred while the captain pilot monitored activities of the co-pilot.

Full report regarding the cause of AirAsia QZ8501 crash was expected to be published within one year from the date of the crash. Endi