Indonesia divers recover more bodies from AirAsia crash, raising number retrieved to 100

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian divers have recovered several more bodies from December’s AirAsia crash, including one from the jet’s cockpit, bringing the total number of victims retrieved to 100, an official said Saturday.

The Airbus A320-200 crashed into the Java Sea on Dec. 28 while flying from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Singapore. All 162 people on board were killed.

Divers on Friday retrieved four bodies, including one from the cockpit, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency. He said the decomposed body — in uniform and still strapped by a seat belt — was believed to be either the pilot, Iriyanto, who like many Indonesians used one name, or French co-pilot Remi Emmanuel Plesel.

Soelistyo said a strong underwater current hampered attempts by divers Saturday to retrieve the other body from the cockpit.

Three more bodies were recovered Saturday, bringing to 100 the number of victims retrieved, Soelistyo told MetroTV.

Some of the bodies were found off Sulawesi island, about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) east of the crash site.

More than 60 divers are taking part in the search, which resumed Jan. 31 following several failed attempts to lift the fuselage from the seabed.