• Bodies, Debris Recovered from AirAsia Flight 8501 Crash Site

    Families of the 162 passengers aboard AirAsia Flight 8501 are grieving this morning, as it has been confirmed that the wreckage has been found in the ocean about 6 miles from the Airbus's last-known location. About halfway into the two-hour flight, the crew encountered extremely bad weather early Sunday morning, Dec. 28, and when Capt. Iriyanto requested permission to climb to a higher altitude, he was denied. Two minutes later, the controller told him that it was safe to proceed to 38,000 feet, but got no response. Loved ones held out hope for more than two days, only to have the worst confirmed early this morning, Dec. 30. AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes has attempted to handle this tragedy with great care and has been nothing but supportive and empathetic toward the families who were waiting for official word. Today, Fernandes tweeted, "My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am." He has since flown back to Surabaya to be with the grieving families. He also has chartered a flight to take them out to the airspace over the Java Sea to say their final goodbyes to loved ones in the area where they lost their lives.

  • Investigators Believe AirAsia Flight 8501 'At the Bottom of the Sea'

    For a little while, it seemed like debris from AirAsia's Flight 8501 might have been spotted floating in the Java Sea, but that possibility has now been dismissed. The work horse flight disappeared from radar more than 36 hours ago after asking to alter its course due to bad weather. A few minutes later the Airbus 320-200 disappeared from radar and has not been seen or heard from since. Unfortunately, as time goes on, officials have seen less reason to believe that the outcome of this situation will be anything less than grim. Indonesia's search and rescue chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo has admitted that, "Based on the coordinates that we know, the evaluation would be that any estimated crash position is in the sea, and that the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea." That is obviously not the reality the families of the 162 people on board Flight 8501 want to believe. Their loved ones departed Surabaya, Indonesia, Sunday morning, Dec. 28, headed for Singapore, a trip that usually takes about two hours. The plane instead vanished amid thick storm clouds and thunderstorms that made travel conditions difficult.

  • New Video Captures MH17 After It Crashed in Eastern Ukraine, Killing All Aboard

    Can you believe that it has already been four months since Malaysia Flight MH17 was shot down in the eastern edge of Ukraine? Even more shocking is the fact that Dutch investigators were just finally allowed to begin picking up the large debris field yesterday, Nov. 16! It is widely believed that pro-Russian rebels shot the passenger plane down, killing all 283 people on board, because they mistakenly believed it was a Ukrainian plane. Dutch investigators have had to fight to get anywhere near the wreckage up until now because of intense, ongoing fighting in the area. At the same time, we are learning that there is now realistic hope for solving the official investigation that has been opened up by officials from the Netherlands: New video has surfaced of the smoldering plane moments after it crashed. The Associated Press released the footage, which shows local villagers running toward the smoking debris, asking if the pilot had been found. Apparently the rebels will attempt to locate and kidnap a pilot after downing an aircraft or jet. Clearly, from this horrific footage, any survival was impossible.
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