Bodies, debris pulled from water in search for missing AirAsia jet

Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing AirAsia plane have pulled 40 bodies from the sea off the coast of Borneo. Debris has also been retrieved, but the plane has yet to be found.

The discovery of bloated corpses floating in relatively shallow water brought a painful end to a two-day search for survivors.

Indonesia AirAsia's Flight 8501, an Airbus A320-200, with 162 people on board, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

"My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ8501," airline boss Tony Fernandes tweeted. "On behalf of AirAsia, my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am."

Many family members learned of the grim discovery at a crisis center set up in Surabaya, where counselors were at hand.

Television pictures of floating bodies were met with grief, with relatives observed weeping with their heads in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away.

"You have to be strong," the mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, said as she comforted relatives. "They are not ours. They belong to God."

Others remained in a state of disbelief. Ifan Joko, 54, said he was still hoping for a miracle. His brother, Charlie Gunawan, along with his wife, their three children and two other family members, were traveling to Singapore on the plane to ring in the New Year.

"I know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his family are dead," he said, wiping a tear. "We still pray they are alive."

While the recovery operation was ongoing, an investigation into what could have caused the downing of the plane continued.

An Indonesian navy spokesman said a plane door, oxygen tanks and one body have been recovered and taken by helicopter for tests.

"The challenge is waves up to 3 meters high," Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of the Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters, adding that the search operation would go on all night.

About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search.

The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot requested permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather but was denied because of heavy air traffic, officials said.

It was traveling at 32,000 feet, and the pilot asked to fly at 38,000 feet, officials said earlier. Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms and requests to gain altitude to avoid them are not unusual in that area.

The Indonesian pilot was experienced, and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said. The aircraft had accumulated about 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights, according to Airbus.

Online discussion among pilots has centered on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled.

Meanwhile, three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked travelers across the region.

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

An AirAsia plane from Manila skidded off and overshot the runway on landing at Kalibo in the central Philippines on Tuesday. No one was hurt.

Al Jazeera and wire services