Bodies of AirAsia victims pulled from sea

Indonesia's navy said a number of bodies had been recovered from the sea, after off the coast of Borneo Island.

AirAsia has confirmed the debris was from the same Airbus A320-200 which went missing during bad weather from air traffic radar on Sunday. It was traveling from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Grief-stricken families of some of the 162 people on board have gathered in a crisis center in Surabaya, enduring images of debris and floating bodies broadcast on television. Some of the objects seen so far are understood to include a life jacket, an emergency exit door and an oxygen tank.

AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes took to Twitter to express his condolences.

The plane belonging to the low-cost carrier vanished halfway through its 2.5-hour flight on Sunday, sparking an international search involving dozens of planes, ships and helicopters.

It appears the plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot asked for permission to avoid bad weather. That permission was not granted, because of heavy air traffic. Officials said it was traveling at 32,000 feet (9,753 meters) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet.

When air traffic controllers tried to grant the request shortly afterwards, the plane had already disappeared from the radar.

The first signs of the jet were discovered about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from its last known coordinates.

There is conflicting information from Indonesia's navy about how many bodies have been recovered. The figures given so far number between three and 40.

AirAsia gave the nationalities of those on board the A320 as 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans and one each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain, as well as the co-pilot, a French national.

jr/se (Reuters, AP)