AirAsia QZ8501: Plane may have landed on water, overcome by high seas, say experts

Indonesian navy personnel watch as a Bell-412 helicopter takes off at sea on Jan 1, 2015 in the hunt for the ill-fated Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501. - AFP

JAKARTA: As search teams hunt for the black boxes of Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, analysts say the pilot may have managed to make an emergency water landing, only for the plane to be overcome by high seas. 

The Airbus A320-200 left the Indonesian city of Surabaya early Sunday and disappeared from radar over the Java Sea during a storm, but it failed to send the transmissions normally emitted when a plane crashes or is submerged.