Air Asia crash: 30 bodies recovered

At least 30 bodies of AirAsia Flight 8501 victims have been recovered, authorities said, as ships with sensitive equipment searched for the plane's fuselage, AFP reports.

Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, said the search would be stepped up as long as the weather allowed.

"We will focus on underwater detection," said Soelistyo, adding ships from Indonesia, Malaysia,Singapore and the U.S. had been on the scene from before dawn Friday to try to pinpoint the wreckage and the all-important black boxes – the flight data and cockpit voice recorders.

The Airbus A320 crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday with 162 people on board. Sixteen bodies have been recovered so far. Seven were announced Friday morning, six of which were found by a U.S. Navy ship, said Suryadi B. Supriyadi, operation coordinator for the National Search and Rescue Agency.

Nine planes, many with metal detecting equipment, were also scouring a 13,500 square kilometer area off Pangkalan Bun, the closest town on Borneo island to the search area. Two Japanese ships with three helicopters were on their way to the area, Soelistyo said.

Bad weather, which has hindered the search the last several days, was a worry. A drizzle and light clouds covered the area Friday morning, but rain, strong winds and high waves up to 4 meters were forecast until Sunday. Strong sea currents have also kept debris moving.

Soelistyo estimated the fuselage was at a depth of 25 meters to 30 meters, and vowed to recover the bodies of "our brothers and sisters ... whatever conditions we face."

So far, one victim of the crash has been returned to her family on Thursday, the first of many painful reunions to come.