PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia — Indonesian rescuers have managed to lift the fuselage of the crashed AirAsia jetliner near the surface before it sank to the ocean floor again when the lifting balloons deflated.
The operations chief at the National Search and Rescue Agency, Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, said four more bodies were discovered Saturday around the area as navy divers were struggling with strong current and poor visibility to prepare the lifting operation.
A total of 69 bodies have been recovered from AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed December 28 with 162 people on board.
Authorities believe many victims are still inside the fuselage.
Bad weather is a suspected factor in the crash. The pilots asked to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid threatening clouds, but were denied because of heavy air traffic.