AirAsia SAR Operations to End
After 17-days, news today that the principal Search and Rescue operation
will be terminated soon. Gen. Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National SAR agency (BASARNAS), declined to answer when exactly SAR operations will wind down, but it is expected to be in the next 3 or 4 days.
National SAR may continue more limited "day to day" operations out of respect and consideration for the victims' families.
Once the SAR phase ends, any further searches will focus solely on recovery. It is unclear whether the Indonesian Army (TNI) will take over the search effort from BASARNAS, or if it will be conducted under the jurisdiction of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee.
Until now, the joint SAR team has located only 48 remains (out of the 162 souls on board). Of those, 36 remains have been identified and released to the families. Meanwhile, 12 other remains are still awaiting the identification process.