Search For AirAsia Flight 8501: Sonar Detects Plane's Wreckage In Shallow Waters Of Java Sea

Update as of 2:15 a.m. EST: Indonesian search teams recovered a seventh body believed to be from AirAsia Flight 8501 before bad weather forced them to suspend the search operations, according to media reports. No survivors have been found so far.

Six of the recovered bodies will arrive at Surabaya, Indonesia, on Wednesday afternoon for identification, Jakarta Post reported. Meanwhile, relatives of the plane's passengers have been informed of the discovery of the aircraft’s wreckage on the floor of the Java Sea, according to a CNN report.

Indonesian officials on Wednesday claimed that they had located the wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501 on the floor of the Java Sea using sonar equipment, according to media reports. The announcement comes on the fourth day of a multinational search operation and a day after the airline confirmed that debris and bodies found on Tuesday were from the missing aircraft.

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said that a sonar image obtained Tuesday by the Indonesian navy showed an airplane upside down in water about 30 meters deep, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. However, as of now, it is not clear whether the Airbus A320-200 is in one piece or broken up.

Efforts to locate the debris of the missing aircraft and bodies are being hampered by bad weather and strong tides in the region, according to media reports. So far, authorities have confirmed the recovery of six bodies -- three men and three women. Earlier reports had said that 40 bodies were recovered from the area, however, those reports were later dismissed as a miscommunication between the Indonesian navy and the country's search and rescue agency.

Several nations, including the U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and South Korea, are assisting in the search operation. The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Sampson arrived in the Java Sea Tuesday while the USS Fort Worth is being prepared to be deployed from Singapore, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby reportedly said.