Since crashing in the Java Sea on December 28 during a flight from Surabaya Indonesia to Singapore, divers have been able to enter the fuselage. Prior attempts were stopped because of massive waves and bad weather. Onboard the flight were 162 people, all who perished in the horrific crash.
To date, a total of 65 bodies have been recovered, six from within the hull of the fuselage. According to Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, the chief of operations for Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, divers were able to find remains of some passengers once they entered the fuselage.
However, he also reported that there are still bodies inside but with so much debris in the way, the divers have had an extremely difficult time reaching them. Of course, that does not mean that experts will not do everything possible to recover as many of the bodies possible.
For the rescue operation, poor visibility coupled with strong currents has been the primary challenge. The goal has been to life the Airbus A320’s fuselage and what appears to be the cockpit from 100 feet below the surface.
The investigation into the fatal crash will take up to a full year to complete. However, after finding the in-cabin flight boxes, it was determined that during the flight the pilot had requested to climb to a higher altitude because of poor weather. Unfortunately, the request was denied.
Experts also discovered that the plane began climbing abnormally fast, followed by a sudden drop without any type of alert signal being sent. The ascent was said to be much faster than what the plane was designed to handle. Because of this, many believe it had become trapped in an upward draft without the pilots even being aware.
Based on the findings on the flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorder, as well as other data gathered and analyzed, the National Transportation Safety Commission has ruled out sabotage for being the cause of the crash. While there is still a lot of work to do, having reached the fuselage is a huge accomplishment, making it possible for more families to put their loved ones to rest.