AirAsia QZ8501: Search for black box recorders could 'take a week'

Indonesia Marine divers prepare their gear on deck of SAR ship Purworejo for search operation of passenger onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Kumai port, Pangkalan Bun district. Photo Reuters.

PANGKALAN BUN: Divers looking for the wreck of an Indonesia AirAsia jet off Borneo were unable to resume full-scale operations on Thursday in poor weather and heavy seas and an air safety official said it could take a week to find the black box flight recorders.

Dive crews were on standby to descend to a large object detected by sonar on the ocean floor, lying just 30-50 meters (100-165 feet) deep, which rescuers believe is the Airbus A320-200, which was carrying 162 people when it crashed on Sunday en route from the city of Surabaya to Singapore.