BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday announced that it will send aircraft and vessel to join the search and rescue work for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
"After consultations with the Indonesian government, the Chinese government has decided to send aircraft and vessel to search for the missing AirAsia flight," the defense ministry said in a statement released Monday night.
A navy frigate on routine patrol in the South China Sea is heading for the waters where the jet went missing, the statement said.
An Air Force jet is making preparations and coordinating with the countries on the flight route, the statement said.
Earlier, an Indonesian official told the media that the missing jet with 162 people on board was believed to have sunken into the bottom of the sea.
Should the projection be true, Indonesia needed to cooperate with other countries to bring the wreckage to the surface, said Bambang Sulistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
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Suspicious objects spotted as search for missing AirAsia plane expands
JAKARTA/PANGKALPINANG, Indonesia, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Suspicious objects were detected on Monday in the Java Sea where an AirAsia plane disappeared as the search operation expanded with more countries joining the sea and aerial hunt.
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a press conference at Surabaya airport that he received reports that an Australian Orion surveillance plane had spotted suspicious objects near the Nangka Island, 1,120 km from the location where the jetliner lost contact. Full story
U.S. reviewing Indonesian request for help in locating missing plane
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United States said Monday that it was reviewing Indonesia's request for aid in locating a missing AirAsia plane with 162 passengers on board.
State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke told reporters that the American Embassy in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, was in " close contact" with Indonesian officials and Washington received a request for help from the Indonesian government Monday. Full story
