Bodies and debris' found in AirAsia search

Indonesian rescuers searching for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people have pulled dozens of bodies andpieces of wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo.

Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sundayduring bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The navy on Tuesday said 40 bodies had been recovered, Reuters news agency reported. Navyspokesman Manahan Simorangkir, however, told AFP just three bodies had been recovered and the largerfigure had been a miscommunication.

An air force plane saw a "shadow" on the seabed believed to be that of the missing Flight QZ8501, NationalSearch and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told a news conference in Jakarta.

Indonesian officials have said that three pieces of airplane debris sighted off Kalimantan coast in the JavaSea were likely to be from missing AirAsia jet.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the head of the search and rescue mission, said that definitive debris,including an exit door from the Flight QZ8501 was found during the search.Indonesia's national broadcaster reported sighting bodies floating in thewaters, and cited Indonesian officials as saying that there was a shadow ofthe plane underneath the sea.

"The debris is red and white," Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director-general ofair transportation at the Transportation Ministry, told reporters. "We arechecking if it's debris from the aircraft. It's probably from the body of theaircraft."

Flight QZ8501 went missing after air traffic controllers lost contact with theaircraft about 45 minutes after it left Juanda international airport at Surabayain East Java at 5.20am on Sunday (22:20 GMT Saturday).

Shortly before disappearing, AirAsia said the pilot of the plane had askedpermission from air traffic control to change course and climb above badweather in an area noted for severe thunderstorms.

The search for the plane carrying 162 people, is now in its third day.

The airline said most of the passengers on board Flight QZ8501 wereIndonesians, with three South Koreans and one person each from Singapore,Malaysia, Britain and France.

The aircraft was operated by AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Malaysian-based AirAsia which dominates Southeast Asia's booming low-cost airline market.

AirAsia said the missing jet last underwent maintenance on November 16.The company has never suffered a fatal accident.