Update: AirAsia Confirms QZ8501 Crash Evacuation Of 3 Bodies; Flight Plan Via 'The Thunderstorm Factory,' 'A Bermuda Triangle' Veteran Pilots Avoid?

Tags: AirAsia; Surabaya; Indonesia; passengers; family

BY jakewriter Dec 30, 2014 05:45 PM EST

Reports emerging from the AirAsia QZ8501 crash site say that only three bodies, found holding hands, were evacuated. An earlier figure of 40 was reportedly an error by a Navy staff, said the chief of the search and rescue operations.

Indonesian Air Force official Agus Dwi Putranto said during a press conference, "We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-colored objects which we could not photograph," Indonesian Air Force official Agus Dwi Putranto said during a press conference," shared Mashable.

Putranto said as he was going through the debris retrieved from the AirAsia QZ8501 crash site "It is not really clear... it could be the wall of the plane or the door of the plane," adding, "Let's pray that those objects are what we are really trying to find."

The bodies were discovered by a pilot off the coast of Borneo where the QZ8501 went down after losing its radar communication. The three victims of the AirAsia flight that was missing for two days are suspected to be still on board the Airbus aircraft. Indonesian TV showed family of the AirAsia QZ8501 crash victim's gruesome pictures of rescue operations showing nearly naked corpses moving up and down in the water. One video by the Associated Press showed the victims facing downward. It was at this time that family members realized that the AirAsia QZ8501 had crashed and there was little hope for survivors to be found immediately. However, a raft without air found by Navy personnel suggested that it remotely possible that one or two persons would have outlived what is day three of the AirAsia QZ8501 rescue and search operations and evacuation of victims.

Though some relatives were cared for at Juanda International Airport Surabaya crisis center, at least one woman collapsed after looking at the bloated bodies and floating debris on TV screens: According to CBS News, "Images on Indonesian television showed a half-naked body bobbing in the sea. Search and rescue teams were lowered on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve the corpses."

Indonesian search officials said pieces of red, black and white debris resembling the AirAsia signature logo and aircraft's exterior were found close to Borneo Island situated in the middle of the Java Sea.

Here's and an AP video via YouTube showing details of the rescue operation.

An Australian aviation expert told Forstpost, " human error undoubtedly led to the disappearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501 after the pilots flew directly into a well-known danger zone above the Java Sea. Neil Hansford reiterated that either French first officer or the veteran Indonesian captain who presumably receives continuous training at AirAsia charted a perilous flight plan.

Hansford was quoted by Nine Network, Xinhua that veteran pilots go around the area where the AirAsia went down after losing its signal in the Java Sea. "They call it 'the thunderstorm factory,'" Hansford said with the implication that when the pilot asked to go to higher altitudes due to bad weather, he may have gone through a Bermuda triangle of sorts - "You plan to go around it. You don't go through it.