Search widens for missing AirAsia flight – Part 1

GWEN IFILL:

It's been a fruitless hunt so far for an AirAsia jetliner that disappeared Sunday morning off Indonesia; 162 passengers and crew were on board, and two days of searching has failed to find anything.

Alex Thomson of Independent Television News has our report.

ALEX THOMSON:

Dawn this morning on the Java Sea, for the international search effort, some hopes raised as an Australian team reported seeing debris offshore.

The sighted debris proved to be nothing of significance, leaving another day passed in this operation with no sign of missing Flight QZ8501. Human sight is daylight-limited and compromised of course by cloud cover. So the plane's flight data recorders fixed with underwater locator beacons might prove crucial.

When submerged, they should emit a signal every second to be picked up, in theory locating the plane. But with every passing hour, the likelihood of the jet having gone down in the ocean increases. After today's disappointment, the search area has been expanded to include islands to the south and east. There are now 30 ships involved in the search and at least 15 aircraft.

DAI WHITTINGHAM, United Kingdom Flight Safety Committee:

I think the probability is that this one will be found quite quickly. The Java Sea is actually quite shallow, which means that there is a much greater chance that the signal from the position indicator will be detected.

ALEX THOMSON:

And the man in the eye of the storm right now, the AirAsia boss and chairman of QPR Football Club.

TONY FERNANDES, CEO, AirAsia Group:

No one can guarantee that their airline is 100 percent safe. But I think in 13 years, we have carried 220 million people. And until today, we have never lost a life.

ALEX THOMSON:

The search for flight QZ8501 resumes on and in the Java Sea at first light.

GWEN IFILL:

There was no suggestion of foul play in the AirAsia disappearance. Ten months ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished on a flight to China, with 239 people on board. Investigators believe it was deliberately diverted and went down in the Indian Ocean. No trace has ever been found.

We will talk to a reporter in the region about the ongoing search and growing frustrations right after the news summary.