Still no sign of Flight 8501 as search enters third day

Search area the size of California, but shallow depth and warm water could mean survivors

The search for the vanished AirAsia Flight 8501 and the 162 passengers aboard continues, and an Indonesian warship is heading to collect oil samples from the sea to determine whether it came from the missing flight.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Two spots of oil on the ocean's surface have caused rescuers to focus their efforts in the surrounding area, though on December 28 an Indonesian official warned that they believed the missing aircraft was probably on the "bottom of the sea."

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It was also announced by Indonesian officials that one of the pilots had requested to climb in altitude about 5,000 feet to avoid an oncoming storm, but was denied, just six minutes before the airliner went missing.

Bambang Tjahjono, the director of Indonesia's state-owned air-traffic control company said that the pilot's request could not be granted because another plane was in the vicinity at 34,000 feet. By the time clearance was granted, Flight 8501 was gone.

As to the oil that was seen, he said that Indonesia is "making sure whether it was avtur (aviation fuel) from the AirAsia plane or from a vessel because that location is a shipping line."

While all evidence found thus far has not been part of the missing flight, the relatively shallow depth of the area the plane went missing in-being between 130 and 160 feet-and the warmth of the water, makes potentially finding survivors likely even though the search area is about the size of California.

Flight 8501 went missing at 6:17 in the morning, local time, on December 28, while traveling from Indonesia to Singapore.

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