Passengers on board doomed AirAsia flight 8501 would have have been aware that the plane was going crash, it has emerged, after search pilots revealed victims had time to put on life jackets. Representatives from Basarnas, Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said a seventh body recovered from the Java Sea this morning was wearing a life jacket, while a pilot assisting the operation claimed three of the victims were found floating in the water still holding hands.
Some of the recovered bodies were fully clothed, which could indicate the Airbus A320-200 was intact when it hit the water - supporting the theory that the plane did not explode or break up in mid-air and may instead have suffered an aerodynamic stall.
The fact that one person put on a life jacket suggests those on board had time before the aircraft hit the water, or before it sank. This would make the search pilot's claim that three of the victims were found still holding hands more feasible, as it suggests not all passengers died on impact, although it raises questions over why the AirAsia captain did not raise a distress signal before the crash.
Despite suggestions passengers may have been alive during the plane's final few moments in the air, the the pilots did not issue a distress signal in the time between asking permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather and six minutes later when air traffic control lost contact with the plane.
'This morning, we recovered a total of four bodies and one of them was wearing a life jacket,' said
Tatang Zaenudin, an official with the search and rescue agency.
He declined to speculate on what the find might mean.
Sources: CNN | BBC | DailyMail
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