AirAsia QZ8501: Search teams find more bodies at sea

The Airbus A320 disappeared with 162 people on board while flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore. Operations to recover victims continue but no survivors have been found. Specialist equipment has arrived to aid the search for the plane itself and its "black box" flight recorders. However officials said it could not be used on Friday because of high waves, Reuters reported. On Saturday, Indonesian search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo said two large objects had been found in the search. "As I speak we are lowering an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) to get an actual picture of the objects detected on the sea floor. All are at the depth of 30 metres," Mr Soelistyo said. The cause of the crash is not known yet. In another development, it has emerged that AirAsia did not have official permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on Sunday - the day of the crash - but was licensed on four other days of the week. The Indonesian authorities are suspending the company's flights on this route with immediate effect pending an investigation, a transport ministry statement said. 'Strapped in seats' "As of now, the results that I can confirm for you are that the number of dead bodies recovered is 30," the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Mr Soelistyo, said on Friday. Some were reportedly still strapped into their seats when they were found. The aircraft's fuselage has still not been located, and it is thought most of the passengers could be inside. "Waves were between three and four metres today, making it difficult to load bodies onto ships and [move them] between ships," Bambang Soelistyo told reporters. Some vessels would search through the night, he added. "Tonight we are sending tug boats which should make the [body] transfers easier." After bodies are recovered from the sea they are transported in numbered coffins for identification in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city. Four people have been identified so far: Hayati Lutfiah Hamid, Grayson Herbert Linaksita, Kevin Alexander Soetjipto and Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi. Several pieces of debris have been recovered, including what is thought to be part of a wing flap. The search is focused on an area of 1,575 nautical square miles off Borneo. 'Unbelievably steep climb' There were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew, on the plane - the majority Indonesian. Officials have said the plane was travelling at 32,000ft when it requested to climb to 38,000ft to avoid bad weather. When air traffic controllers consented to allow it to climb to 34,000ft a few minutes later, they got no reply. A source quoted by Reuters said that radar data appeared to show that the aircraft's "unbelievably" steep climb may have been beyond the Airbus A320's limits. However, the unnamed source emphasised that more information was needed before a definitive conclusion could be reached. AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record, with no fatal accidents involving its aircraft, BBC reported.