An Indonesian Air Force official said an Australian search plane monitored floating sea objects in an area where a missing AirAsia plane was believed to have disappeared.

Indonesia Air Force Rear Marshal Dwi Putranto said an Australian Orion plane spotted suspicious objects near Nangka island, about 160 kilometers southwest of central Kalimantan, or more than 1,100 kilometers from the area where the plane made last contact.

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The official did clarify the Air Force could not determine whether the objects were part of the ill-fated AirAsia plane, adding searchers are now zeroing in on the area.

Meanwhile, another Indonesian official said on Monday searchers now suspect that the AirAsia plane that disappeared on Sunday morning over the Java Sea ended up at the ocean floor.

The chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Bambang Soelistyo, said if the missing aircraft indeed sunk to the ocean floor, getting the plane to the surface will be a challenge because Indonesia does not have the submersible technology necessary to lift it.

He added no signal has been detected so far from the plane's Emergency Locator Transmitter which should function automatically and send warning signals.

AirAsia flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, made last contact with Jakarta's air traffic control at 6:17 AM on Sunday morning while flying over the Java Sea during a flight to Singapore from Surabaya.  Shortly before it disappeared, the pilots asked to change their flight plan because of apparent stormy weather.

The flight, which had at least 162 people on board including the crew, was scheduled to land in Singapore at 7:57 in the morning local time.

The CEO of AirAsia Indonesia, Sunu Widyatmok, said the airline was deeply saddened and shocked by this incident, adding company officials are helping authorities to the best of their abilities to know the cause of the incident.  

TagsAirAsia