AirAsia flight: Pilot says he saw bodies of victims 'holding hands'

"There were seven to eight people. Three of them again hold hands," Lieutenant Airman Tri Wobowo, who co-piloted the C130 Hercules was quoted by The Independent.

Along with the bodies, the pilot also described the luggage, buoys and pieces of the aircraft - in the red, black and white of AirAsia - that were seen at the site.

Aviation company AirAsia Indonesia on Tuesday confirmed that the debris found earlier in the day belonged to its missing flight QZ8501 that went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday morning.

"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to inform that The National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia (BASARNAS) today confirmed that the debris found earlier today is indeed from QZ8501, the flight that had lost contact with air traffic control on the morning of 28th December 2014," the company had said in a statement.

More than 40 bodies and debris have been recovered on Tuesday from the Java Sea as search operation continued for the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight.

The debris of the aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun.

Indonesian Navy had confirmed that they retrieved 40 bodies and more bodies continue to be recovered.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes had regretted the loss and assured of all required actions.

“I am absolutely devastated. This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the wellbeing of the family members of those onboard QZ8501," he had said.

"My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences. I am rushing to Surabaya. Whatever we can do at Airasia we will be doing," he tweeted earlier.

Sunu Widyatmoko, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Indonesia had said: “We are sorry to be here today under these tragic circumstances. We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501. Our sympathies also go out to the families of our dear colleagues.”

Meanwhile, search and rescue operations are still in progress and further investigation of the debris found at the location is still underway.

AirAsia Indonesia employees had been sent to the site earlier and will be fully cooperating with BASARNAS, National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), and relevant authorities on the investigation.

The bodies were recovered on the third day of the search operation that commenced on Sunday after the AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 went missing with 162 people on board.

AirAsia Indonesia will be inviting family members to Surabaya, where a dedicated team of care providers will be assigned to each family to ensure that all of their needs are met. Counsellors, religious and spiritual personnel have also been invited to the family center to provide any necessary services.

The Airbus A320-200 disappeared on Sunday en-route from Surabaya in Indonesia’s east Java to Singapore.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.

There were 155 passengers on board, with 137 adults, 17 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots, 4 cabin crews and one engineer.

The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.

This comes even as the entire world is intrigued still by the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 after it disappeared between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing in March with 239 passengers and crew members on board with no trace of its wreckage found yet.