AirAsia QZ8501 tail lifted from Java Sea

The Indonesian navy has retrieved the tail section of AirAsia flight QZ8501 from the Java Sea, two weeks after it crashed killing all 162 people on board.

Divers are continuing their search for the black box recorders which officials now believe separated from the tail section on impact with water.

On Friday “pings” had been detected near to the site where the tail section had lodged in the sea bed. They believe them to be from the missing black boxes which would provide vital clues as to why the plane went down.

The cause of the crash remains a mystery, but, the plane encountered bad weather and requested a flight path change before communications were lost on December 28.

So far 48 bodies have been recovered, but strong winds and high waves have hampered the search for the main body of the plane where they believe most of the bodies could be trapped.