AirAsia Plane Debris and Bodies Found; Little Hope of Any Survivors

SURABAYA, INDONESIA:  The mystery of Indonesia's missing airliner was partly solved on Tuesday, when rescue teams retrieved and tallied a grim inventory of bodies and debris from the plane off the coast of southwestern Borneo. But it remained unknown what caused the plane, AirAsia Flight 8501, to plunge into the sea Sunday, less than an hour after taking off from Surabaya bound for Singapore. Although Indonesian officials did not say so explicitly, their comments Tuesday suggested that it was unlikely that survivors would be found. "I am so very sorry for this accident," Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president, said before meeting with families of passengers here. "I hope families can stay strong while facing tragedy." Throughout the afternoon, Indonesian authorities built up an inventory of debris collected by ships and helicopters from the sea surface, including life vests, aircraft parts and what appeared to be a small blue suitcase. Indonesian television showed a rescuer descending from a helicopter toward a corpse, which like other bodies found was not wearing a life jacket. Search and rescue officials said that three items in particular - the suitcase and parts they identified as an aspirator assembly and a reservoir slide craft - helped them determine that the debris came from Flight 8501. Indonesian authorities said the pieces of wreckage were found about 60 miles southeast of the last known position of the plane - the opposite direction from the plane's path, a fact that was not explained. Search teams also spotted what they said might be a larger submerged piece of the fuselage of the Airbus A320-200, which was operated by the Indonesian affiliate of AirAsia.   NY Times