REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The joint team conducting search and rescue operations in the Java Sea has spotted two large objects that are believed to be part of the AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft.

Following the discovery of an oil spill on Friday night, three ships having undersea detection capabilities launched operations in the priority sector and had found the objects at 23:40 p.m., the chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarna), FH Bambang Soelistyo said on Saturday (3/1).

He added that the first object measures 9.2x4.6x0.5 meters (based on a 3D picture), while the second one is 7.2x0.5 meters (based on a 2D picture), adding the two objects were discovered close to each other.

Soelistyo also pointed out that the Geo Survey ship had tried to get a visual of the two objects by sending a remotely operated vehicle, but the effort was unsuccessful, due to bad weather and high waves of 2.5 to four meters.

"We wanted to confirm the findings visually using the vehicle, but I can assure you they are part of the aircraft we are looking for," Soelistyo stated.

The two objects were found 30 meters deep in the priority sector, where efforts to find the wreckage and black boxes of the aircraft are being carried out.

The AirAsia flight QZ8501 carrying 162 passengers, including crew members, was flying from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday morning when it lost contact with the air traffic control above the Java Sea in Central Kalimantan where it is believed to have crashed.

So far, 30 bodies of the victims have been found, 12 of them by USS Sampson that took part in the search efforts.

Besides the bodies, the search and rescue teams have also discovered debris of the ill-fated aircraft.

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