Six bodies and wreckage that was spotted floating in Indonesian waters early today is believed to be connected to the missing AirAsia jetliner that crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday with 162 people aboard, officials said.
Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, said a shadow in the shape of a plane had also been spotted in the water.
Six bodies, meanwhile, were recovered and taken to an Indonesian navy ship, First Adm. Sigit Setiayanta, the Naval Aviation Center commander at the Surabaya air force base, said.
The items were spotted in the Java Sea, near the site where air traffic control lost contact with the plane. The water is less than 100 feet deep in the area where the objects were found, officials said.
The recovered bodies -- which did not have life jackets on -- were taken to an Indonesian navy ship, Setiayanta added.
Trisnadi/AP Photo
PHOTO: Relatives of passengers of the missing AirAsia flight QZ 8501 react to the news about the findings of bodies in the waters near the site where the jetliner disappeared, at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, Dec. 30, 2014.
Relatives of the plane passengers -- gathered at Indonesia's Surabaya Airport -- cried and wailed upon hearing the news, with one man fainting.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes expressed sorrow for the situation, saying, "My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. Words cannot express how sorry I am."
Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post that within the past few hours, three of the country's ships "have been asked to proceed towards the area where bodies and debris were found" and that an additional ship will "set sail this evening to join the operation."
Today's search included 12 helicopter units, 11 fixed-wing units, and 32 ship units with assistance from neighboring countries Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.
Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control over the Java Sea during a flight to Singapore Sunday morning, shortly after the pilots requested a change of flight plan because of weather.
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