Divers have recovered on Sunday an additional seven bodies from the wreckage of the ill-fated Air Asia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea, bringing the number of bodies recovered from the crash site to 84.
According to Yahoo! News, the divers found two bodies inside the fuselage of the plane itself while five others were resting near the wreckage.
Sunday's operation marks the resumption of SAR activities after the operation was halted for 48 hours because of bad weather. Although the Indonesian military have withdrew its personnel and logistical support last week, an agency official assures the public that they will continue to search for bodies of the victims.
"Divers will continue to search for more bodies," SAR Coordinator SB Supriyadi told AFP in an interview Sunday.
The ongoing operation aims to recover the bodies of the remaining 78 victims of the crash.
Flight QZ8501 was en route to Singapore from Surabaya in Indonesia when it disappeared from radar coverage on December 28. Reuters, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the ongoing investigation, reported on Saturday that Captain Iriyanto was not away from his seat when the aircraft crashed after his French co-pilot lost control of the Airbus A320.
Reuters' sources further alleged that Captain Iriyanto was attempting to pull the circuit breaker to cut power to the Flight Augmentation Computer, as he and First Officer Remy Plesel reportedly tried to reset the device.
However, officials with the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee told Reuters on Monday that they have not found any evidence so far of loss of power to any of the aircraft's automated systems prior to the crash.
"Up until today, there is no indication or evidence yet that the circuit breaker was pulled," NTSC Investigator Ertata Lananggalih told Reuters' Jakarta correspondents.
The NTSC issued no further statements, stating that the investigation is still ongoing.
