By Ainur Rohmah
JAKARTA
Indonesia officially ended the search for further bodies from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 on Monday.
Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency Bambang Soelistyo said that 59 bodies remained missing of the 162 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft when it crashed into the Java Sea on Dec. 28.
"This operation was planned, terminated and then evaluated,” Soelistyo said at a press conference aboard Indonesian naval vessel Pacitan. “I hope the families of the victims are able to understand."
The last significant part of the Airbus A320-200 was brought into Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta Monday.
The debris, which consists of the central part of the cabin and wings, is to be handed over to air crash investigators after the search agency has checked no body parts are still inside.
"The delivery of [the] aircraft body is the final part of the search and evacuation of the aircraft,” Soelistyo said. “The scenario from the beginning, the main one, was looking for victims as much as possible [followed by] the black box and lifting the aircraft’s body."
Soelistyo was due to meet President Joko Widodo to report on the end of the operation.
Tatang Kurniadi, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Committee, said examination of the plane’s two “black boxes” was 40 percent completed.
The committee is due to issue a full report early next year.
President Director of AirAsia Indonesia Sunu Widyatmoko said three families of AirAsia passengers had so far received full insurance payments of 1.25 billion rupiahs ($96,000).
