|
US searches for missing jet
10/01/2007 10:03 - (SA)
|
|
|
 |
|
| The US Navy ship USNS Mary Sears searches the waters in the Makassar Strait for signs of the missing plane. (AP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Makassar, Indonesia - A US Navy oceanographic survey ship was trying to determine on Wednesday if metal objects found off Sulawesi Island's western coast were the wreckage of a Boeing 737 that disappeared more than a week ago carrying 102 people.
An Indonesian vessel earlier reported three pieces of debris on the sea bed after local fisherman told authorities they had spotted a low-flying, unstable aircraft in the area but lost sight of it after hearing a loud bang, naval officials said.
The USNS Mary Sears, which has sonar and satellite imagery capabilities, was called in to see if the metal could be the remnants of Adam Air Flight KI-574, said Eddy Suyanto, the search and rescue mission chief.
The debris, found in three separate locations within a radius of a few kilometres, was on the Makassar Strait's sea bed approximately four kilometres from the West Sulawesi provincial capital of Mamuju, he said. It was at a depth of between 1 500m and 2 000m.
The pilot of the Adam Air plane, which left Java island for the North Sulawesi provincial capital of Manado on January 1, twice changed course after battling 130km/h winds but did not issue a mayday or report technical difficulties, officials said.
With no emergency location signal to guide more than 3 600 soldiers, police and volunteers searching in the island's dense jungles and surrounding seas, teams have fanned out over a nearly 80 000-square-kilometre area.
After mistakenly claiming last week that the wreckage had been found with 12 survivors, officials were cautious on Tuesday in discussing the discovery of the underwater debris.
Indonesia said it welcomed all international assistance in the search.
A Canadian airplane with inland mapping capabilities joined the search on Tuesday, Suyanto said, and Singapore also has been providing aerial surveys.
A US National Transportation Safety Board team arrived late last week and authorities in the United States were viewing satellite imagery of the island, the embassy said.
- AP
|
