Officials suspended amid claims ill-fated AirAsia flight broke rules
Indonesian officials who allowed AirAsia flight QZ8501 to take off on the day of the crash have been suspended.
The transport ministry claims the airline was authorized to fly only four days a week between Surabaya and Singapore, not including Sunday, the day it crashed into the Java Sea.
A newspaper report claims the Indonesia Corruption Eradication Commission has also met the ministry of transport to discuss whether to investigate AirAsia for bribery.
The airline has not commented on the reports but AirAsia founder Tony Fernandez appeared to respond on Twitter saying "Many sensational headlines on Airasia. We have kept quiet as our focus is on families. One by one facts will come out and clear us".
Later he tweeted: "Human spirit is amazing. Stay strong Airasia all stars. Don’t let newspaper headlines deflect from the amazing job you do. Airasia changed flying".
The AirAsia Airbus A320 crashed into the sea 42 minutes into a two-hour flight after the pilot made a request to air traffic controllers to climb to avoid a storm. The ministry of transport is investigating whether the captain of flight QZ8501 personally picked up a weather report before take off, and has sinced issued a directive to make this mandatory.
So far the bodies of 37 of the 162 people on board have been recovered from the sea, along with what is believed to be the tail of the aircraft, and the search for the main part of the fuselage will continue today over an expanded area, said the BBC.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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