More on AirAsia Flight 8501: Divers go down to AirAsia ruins as weather clears

The Indonesian Navy on board the vessel KRI Bung Tomo displaying recovered wreckage from ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 lost in the Java Sea

Indonesian search officials sent divers down to the bed of the Java Sea during a break in bad weather Tuesday (Jan 6) in hopes of recovering more bodies from the wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501.

Recovery teams, hampered by rough seas, have found fewer than 40 bodies since the plane crashed on Dec 28, carrying 162 people from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

"Some divers have started to dive to the seabed," search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters on the tenth day of the major search involving several countries. The recovery teams are yet to find the "black box" flight data recorders, crucial to determining the cause of the crash, although they have located five major parts of the plane on the seabed including a "suspected tail" - where flight recorders are usually housed.

The operation has prioritised finding the bodies of the victims, all but seven of whom were Indonesian. Some bodies were found still strapped into their seats.

The number recovered still stood at 37 on Tuesday, another search official, S B Supriyadi, told AFP from Pangkalan Bun, a town on Borneo island with the nearest airstrip to the wreckage. Recovery teams have recently expanded the area of sea being combed for bodies and wreckage, believing bodies may have drifted in strong currents.

Indonesia has also ordered the suspension of aviation officials involved in the departure of the flight. It says the crash happened when AirAsia was flying on an unauthorised schedule.

AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Malaysia-based AirAsia, has already been suspended from flying the Surabaya-Singapore route - although Singapore officials said they had given permission for the flight at their end.