Search teams may have found the tail of the missing AirAsia plane where the black box voice and flight data recorders are found.
The captain of a navy patrol vessel said it had recovered ‘what has a high probability of being the tail of the plane’, reports Reuters.
The discovery has still to be confirmed by the Indonesian search and rescue agency.
Thirty seven bodies of passengers and crew have so far been recovered, including some still strapped in their seats, following the crash on December 28.
Recovery workers believe the majority of bodies are trapped inside the wrecked fuselage, which they are certain now lies at the bottom of the relatively shallow Java Sea but it has not been spotted.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said seasonal tropical storms probably contributed to the accident.
The search to recover bodies and flight data recorders has also been hampered by bad weather.
A CNN report says the airline has already offered to pay ‘preliminary compensation’ of $24,000 for each of the 154 passengers onboard the flight despite Indonesian authorities saying the flight operated without approval.
The Indonesian air transport ministry said the flight was not authorized to operate on Sundays and if this is upheld the airline’s insurance company may not compensate the families.
A draft letter sent to next of kin explains the pay-out is for ‘financial hardships’ during the search for the plane.
