Searchers Recover Tail of Crashed AirAsia Flight [PHOTOS]

wreckage from crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea is pictured in this underwater photograph released by Indonesia’s National Search And Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) January 7, 2015. REUTERS/BASARNAS/Handout

Indonesian search and rescue teams on Saturday raised the tail of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 jet that crashed in the Java Sea nearly two weeks ago with the loss of all 162 people on board.

Searchers found the tail on Wednesday at a depth of about 100 feet approximately 20 miles from the plane’s last known location. Divers were able to raise the tail using inflatables and then pull it onto the Indonesian Search and Rescue (BASARNAS) ship MV Crest Onyx. Searchers were hoping that the aircraft’s black box recorders would be found inside the tail, however officials have confirmed that the recorder has still not been located.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control during bad weather on December 28 during a two-hour flight from Indonesia to Singapore.

Kanupriya Kapoor of Reuters contributed to this article.

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