At least 40 bodies and wreckage including a plane door and oxygen tanks have been recovered in the search for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
The debris of the aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun. The airline has confirmed the debris and bodies are from the missing AirAsia flight.
The bodies - which were not wearing life jackets - have been brought on board a navy ship, said Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi.
"The warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing. They are very busy now," said a navy spokesman.
They were found in the Java Sea about 10kms from where the plane last communicated with air traffic control.
Search chief SB Supriyadi also said an air force Hercules had "found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane".
Some of the objects have been taken away by helicopter for testing.
There were 155 passengers on board - with 137 adults, 17 children and 1 infant. Also on board were two pilots, four cabin crews and one engineer.
"Search and rescue operations are still in progress and further investigation of the debris found at the location is still underway. AirAsia Indonesia employees have been sent to the site and will be fully cooperating with BASARNAS, National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), and relevant authorities on the investigation," the carrier said in a statement.
AirAsia says it will be inviting family members to Surabaya, where 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 centre to provide any necessary services.
The Airbus A320-200 disappeared from radar on Sunday on its way from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.
The aircraft's last request - to climb higher to avoid a storm - was turned down. Minutes later it fell off the radar.
Fernandes has apologised to the familes of those onboard flight QZ8501. He has tweeted to say: "My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am."
He adds: "I am rushing to Surabaya. Whatever we can do at Airasia we will be doing."
Pilots say the area where the plane was last heard from is often referred to as the "thunderstorm factory".
Geoffrey Thomas, editor of AirlineRatings.com, told Sky News the plane may have stalled after struggling to maintain speed.
"We have a radar plot which shows the plane actually climbing through 36,300ft - it wasn't given permission to do that.
"It also shows that its speed had decayed by 134mph and dropped dramatically to a level where it couldn't sustain flight."
Some 30 ships and 21 aircraft from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia have been involved in searching 10,000 nautical miles of ocean.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo told a news conference a "massive" operation to retrieve the remaining bodies would start at first light.
It is hoped the black box, which records cockpit voices and crucial flight data, will be easy to find as the plane is believed to have crashed in shallow seas.
