Search of AirAsia QZ8501: As it happened on Wednesday

The first two bodies from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash have arrived back in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, where relatives are waiting.

• Radar data being examined by investigators appeared to show that AirAsia Flight QZ8501 made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed, possibly pushing it beyond the Airbus A320's limits, a source was quoted as saying by Reuters.

• Some International websites have reported that around 10 bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea. However, the big waves, strong winds and heavy rains are hampering the search operation.

• Father of one of the stewardesses – Khairunnisa Haidar – who was on board Flight QZ8501, has revealed that working for the airline was his daughter's dream job. The 22-year-old studied law but later decided to pursue career as a flight attended, Sky News reported.​​

• The passengers on board ill fated AirAsia QZ8501 were flying to Singapore to celebrate New Year with their loved ones. Jie Charly Gunawan took his wife, their three children, his mother in law, and their future son-in-law to Singapore.
• "The whole house has gone for the trip," his sister Jie Melinda, 40, told AFP.

• Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia`s National Search and Rescue Agency has said that though they have not found the airframe as yet, seventh body has been recovered from the Java Sea.

  
  

  The seven bodies are of four males and three females, Indonesia`s Antara news agency reported.

• Police in Surabaya have said they had collected DNA from 30 immediate family members to assist with the identification of bodies. The identification process of the bodies is set to take place at a hospital in Surabaya.

• The first two bodies from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 have arrived in Indonesia's Surabaya. Relatives have been asked for DNA samples to help identify the victims.

• A body recovered from the crashed AirAsia plane today was wearing a life jacket, an official with Indonesia's search and rescue agency said, raising questions about how the disaster unfolded. "This morning, we recovered a total of four bodies and one of them was wearing a life jacket," said Tatang Zaenudin, an official with the search and rescue agency. He declined to speculate on what the find might mean.

• Authorities in Surabaya are making preparations to receive and identify bodies. The fully-clothed bodies indicate the Airbus A320-200 was intact when it hit the water and support a theory that it suffered an aerodynamic stall. "The fact that the debris appears fairly contained suggests the aircraft broke up when it hit the water, rather than in the air," said Neil Hansford, a former pilot and chairman of consultancy firm Strategic Aviation Solutions.
• The US has pledged additional aid to search for a missing AirAsia plane, as debris and six bodies have been found, says a media report.

• Three vessels of Singapore Navy have change their original search area for the wreckage of an AirAsia plane and are expected to reach their new location this morning, a media report said.

• An official with Indonesia`s search and rescue agency, Hernanto, says the large, dark object under the sea, presumed to be the missing AirAsia plane, is about 30-50 metres under water.

• Indonesia`s search-and-rescue agency has obtained a sonar image it says may be the body of the missing AirAsia jet at the bottom of the Java Sea, the Wall Street Journal said. 
• National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo tells a press conference that six bodies have now been recovered, including a woman in crew uniform. "As soon as the weather is clear, the bodies will be brought to Pangkalan Bun," the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site, added Soelistyo.

• "We are experiencing bad weather now. Rains and winds prevented us from resuming the search operation this morning," Air Force rescue coordinator SB Supriyadi told a news agency. Supriyadi added that hundreds of people from the military, police and national rescue agency were on standby waiting for clear weather in Pangkalan Bun.
• Stormy weather on Wednesday forced Indonesian rescuers to suspend their search for the bodies of those on AirAsia`s Flight QZ8501, which plunged into the water at the weekend carrying 162 people.
• More than 48 hours after the Airbus A320-200 disappeared en route from Indonesia`s second largest city Surabaya to Singapore, aerial searchers found wreckage and bodies floating in the Java Sea on Tuesday.

• About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States have been involved in the search.
•  "The challenge is waves up to three metres high," National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters, adding that the search operation would go on all night. He declined to answer questions on whether any survivors had been found.
• A Navy spokesman said a plane door, oxygen tanks and one body had been recovered and taken away by helicopter for tests.
• Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing already gathered at a crisis centre in Surabaya wept with heads in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away.
• The airline said in a statement that it was inviting family members to Surabaya, "where a dedicated team of care providers will be assigned to each family to ensure that all of their needs are met".
• "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."
• The Navy initially said 40 bodies had been recovered, although other media later quoted the head of the search and rescue agency, Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, as saying only three bodies had been retrieved. The plane has yet to be found.
• On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French.
• Indonesian rescuers searching for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday, prompting relatives of those on board watching TV footage to break down in tears.
• Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area.
• It was travelling at 32,000 feet (9,753 metres) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet, officials said earlier.
• The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic, officials said.
• Indonesia AirAsia`s Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.