Some bodies have been recovered from the Air Asia passenger jet that crashed into the sea in Indonesia on Sunday.

There were 155 passengers and seven crew members on board the flight which went missing en route to Singapore.

More than 40 bodies have been spotted in the sea in the Karimata Strait.

Air Asia confirmed earlier that debris found in the Java Sea belonged to the missing aircraft.

The wreckage is close to where the plane last had contact with air traffic control.

It's reported the pilot requested permission to change altitude to avoid a storm.

Jeffrey Thomas is editor at the Asia Pacific bureau of airlineratings.com.

He says the early indications are that weather was a major factor in the accident.