The teams searching for the bodies and debris of AirAsia flight QZ8501 found “two large objects” in the Java Sea.

The chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency Bambang Soelistyo expressed confidence that the large objects, which had been detected by a sonar, were parts of the missing jet, the BBC reports.

Soelistyo added that a remotely operated underwater vehicle was being lowered to take pictures of the objects found on the sea floor.

The AirAsia jet disappeared above the Java Sea with 162 people on board, while conducting a flight from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday.

At present 30 bodies have been found with no signs of surviving passengers and the main sections of the plane still missing.

The search for the black box continues and the causes of the crash still remain unknown.

Meanwhile, it emerged that AirAsia did not have an official permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on Sundays, but it had a license to do so on four other days of the week.

The company's flights on this route are suspended with immediate effect with an investigation underway.

The plane was traveling at 32 000 feet when it requested to rise to 38 000 feet to avoid bad weather, which might have resulted in aerodynamic stall due to the steep change in altitude.

Prior to this accident AirAsia had an excellent safety record, the BBC reminds.