AirAsia Flight Bodies, Debris Found Floating in Java Sea

AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which vanished from radar screens Sunday with 162 people aboard, has been found — as officials feared — smashed to pieces in the Java Sea.

Indonesian officials confirmed Tuesday that the debris and floating bodies spotted in the water off the coast of Borneo are from the AirAsia jet that disappeared Sunday after requesting a change of course due to bad weather, the BBC reported.

The Singapore-bound flight, which departed from the Indonesian city of Surabaya, reportedly issued no distress signal.

An Indonesian navy spokesperson claimed that at least 40 bodies had been pulled from the Java Sea, but Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search operations, told the BBC that only three had been recovered.

"I am absolutely devastated," AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said in a statement Tuesday. "This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the wellbeing of the family members of those on board QZ8501."

AirAsia said it plans to assign a care provider to each family who lost a loved one on Flight QZ8501.

Media outlets have reported that there were 137 adult passengers, 17 children, and one infant, along with two pilots and five crewmembers aboard.

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