Indonesia has ordered the suspension of aviation officials involved in the departure of the flight. It says the flight operated by AirAsia Indonesia was flying on an unauthorised schedule when it crashed.
The airline, a unit of Malaysia-based AirAsia, has been suspended from flying the Surabaya-Singapore route -- although Singapore officials said they had given permission for the flight at their end. Indonesia's transport ministry also promised action against any domestic airlines violating their flying permits in the country, which has a patchy aviation safety record.
The Indonesian meteorological agency BMKG has said weather was the "triggering factor" of the crash, with ice likely damaging the plane's engines. The initial report by BMKG into the likely cause referred to infra-red satellite pictures that showed the plane was passing through clouds with temperatures of minus 80 to minus 85 degrees Celsius.
But it remained unclear why other planes on similar routes were unaffected by the weather, and other analysts said there was not enough information to explain the disaster until the flight recorders were recovered.
In Surabaya, which was home to a number of the victims, a crisis centre has been up for identifying bodies and wakes have been held as they are returned to relatives.
Eric Edi Santo lost his aunt and five other family members, but so far only two of their bodies have been found. He was holding out hope for the others. "They died so tragically, at least I want them to have a proper burial," he said.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/
