Antara Foto/Reutersndonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla monitors progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 during a visit to the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta December 28, 2014.Crews who have been searching for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 have spotted items that look like an emergency slide and plane door, Indonesian officials told media.
This marks the third day of the search for the missing jet, which disappeared on a flight from Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday as it was approaching a string of bad weather.
The items search teams spotted have not been confirmed to be a plane door and emergency slide. On Monday, officials announced that search teams spotted possible debris and oil slicks, but crews were unable to recover any items and the oil slicks were determined to not be linked to the plane.
"We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-coloured objects which we could not photograph," Indonesian air force official Agus Dwi Putranto said during a press conference, according to AFP. "The position is 10 kilometres from the location the plane was last captured by radar."
An AFP photographer on the plane with the search crew said he saw objects resembling a life raft, life vest, and long orange tube.
Local TV stations in Asia are carrying images of the possible debris:
Image of reported #QZ8501 debris from Indonesia's KompasTV: pic.twitter.com/dFqYcsUDbb
- John Walton (@thatjohn) December 30, 2014
Further image of reported #QZ8501 debris from Indonesia's KompasTV: pic.twitter.com/1jyQ65KHwP
- John Walton (@thatjohn) December 30, 2014
Image 3 of reported #QZ8501 debris from Indonesia's Kompas TV: pic.twitter.com/rXIkM1btD5
- John Walton (@thatjohn) December 30, 2014
Image 4 of reported #QZ8501 debris from Indonesia's Kompas TV: pic.twitter.com/NfChTI9E4q
- John Walton (@thatjohn) December 30, 2014
#AirAsia #QZ8501: 10 pieces of debris, many smaller ones found in area where jet last detected http://t.co/AA0vtcXMoJ pic.twitter.com/hjknN51vbH
- ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) December 30, 2014
Although experts expect that the search for QZ8501 will be easier than the search for the still-missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, this possible debris sighting doesn't necessarily mean the plane has been found. There were similar sightings in the early days of the MH370 search.
The AirAsia crew lost contact with air traffic control at about 6:17 a.m. local time Sunday, about halfway through the flight. The plane was initially thought to have crashed near the Indonesian island of Belitung, which is near the plane's last known location.
Officials have said that the plane is likely "at the bottom of the sea" by now.
The missing plane carried 155 Indonesians, along with three people from South Korea and one each from Singapore, Britain, Malaysia, and France. The passengers included 16 children and one infant.