The search for a missing Indonesian passenger plane gained momentum Thursday after the finding of tail confirmed to be that of the Adam Air's Boeing 737- 400 and an orange lifebuoy off South Sulawesi province.
The horizontal stabilizer tail number 65C25746-76 belongs to the plane that went missing Jan. 1 with 102 people onboard on the journey between Surabaya in East Java to Manado in North Sulawesi, authorities said.
The one-meter tail was found by a local fisherman who immediately reported to the search and rescue team.
Separately, police in the town of Pare Pare found an orange lifebuoy which was later confirmed to be part of flight safety.
The search is now focusing on the waters of Pare Pare in South Sulawesi.
Loved ones of the Adam Air plane gave mixed reactions to the clues.
"It was a great relief. I hope in the next two days the government will be able to accomplish the search for the Adam Air plane," Rosmala Dewi, mother of a stewardess in the ill-fated plane, was quoted by leading news website Detikcom as saying.
She joined dozens of relatives who attended the Hasanuddin Airport to get latest information about the search.
Others, meanwhile, began to get the feeling that the accident had left no survivors.
"The plane has fallen into pieces, let alone humans," said Paniduran, who has spent days at a nearby hotel to learn the fate of his relatives aboard the Adam Air plane.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)