Search and rescue workers prepare to load body bags onto a flight to Kalimantan in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka December 30, 2014. Indonesian rescuers saw bodies and luggage off the coast of Borneo island on Tuesday and officials said they were "95 percent
Search and rescue workers prepare to load body bags onto a flight to Kalimantan in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka December 30, 2014. Indonesian rescuers saw bodies and luggage off the coast of Borneo island on Tuesday and officials said they were "95 percent sure" debris spotted in the sea was from a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people on board. Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Search and rescue workers prepare to load body bags onto a flight to Kalimantan in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka December 30, 2014. Indonesian rescuers saw bodies and luggage off the coast of Borneo island on Tuesday and officials said they were "95 percent sure" debris spotted in the sea was from a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people on board. Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Hours after Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency have located the missing AirAsia QZ8501 jet on the ocean floor on Tuesday afternoon, divers were immediately dispatched to the crash site to retrieve the bodies.

YouTube/BBC News

By evening, more than 40 bodies were recovered by divers aboard the warship Bung Tomo and the number is growing, according to Manahan Simorangkir, reports AFP.

With the ill-fated jet located 25 to 30 metres on the ocean floor 160 kilometres southwest of Pankalan Bun, efforts are now shifted from searching to retrieving and identifying the bodies as well as locating the black box and lifting the plane.

It ends the search by 50 air and seacraft over a 156,000-kilometre area after the plane bound for Singapore with 162 passengers and crew on board disappeared on Sunday morning.

An aviation expert, Neil Hansford, believes human error was the cause of the plane crash when the flight plan was that of an area that veteran pilots avoided because of its reputation as a thunderstorm factory.

A family member of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 cries at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 30, 2014. Indonesian rescuers saw bodies and luggage off the coast of Borneo island on Tuesday and officials said they were "95 percent sure" debris spotted in the sea was from a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people on board. Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. REUTERS/Beawiharta (INDONESIA - Tags: DISASTER TRANSPORT)

News of the recovery of the bodies caused grief among relatives of the 162 people on board who are now at the crisis centre in Surabaya Airport opened by AirAsia.

Read: Searchers Find Missing AirAsia Jet, Recover 3 Bodies From Ocean Floor

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au