*6 bodies recovered so far including a woman in crew uniform

President Joko Widodo in an Air Hercules C130 during the search and locate operation

Stormy weather forced Indonesian rescuers Wednesday to suspend their search for the bodies of 162 people aboard an ill-fated AirAsia plane, as investigators started trying to piece together why the flight plunged into the sea.

After two days of scouring the Java Sea for signs of the missing aircraft, search teams on Tuesday began recovering debris and bodies, sending relatives waiting anxiously for news into distraught outpourings of emotion.

Although officials promised another massive search on Wednesday, storms forced them to halt the hunt for the remaining bodies and the rest of the plane, which had been travelling from Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya to Singapore when it crashed.

A member of the Indonesian air force looks out of the window during search and rescue operations

“We are experiencing bad weather now. Rains and winds prevented us from resuming the search operation this morning,” air force rescue coordinator S.B. Supriyadi told AFP.

National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference Wednesday that six bodies had now been recovered, including a woman in crew uniform.

“As soon as the weather is clear, the bodies will be brought to Pangkalan Bun,” the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site, said Soelistyo.

Supriyadi said that hundreds of people from the military, police and national rescue agency were on standby waiting for clear weather in Pangkalan Bun.

The plane crashed into the Java Sea southwest of the island of Borneo, with debris including an exit door and a blue suitcase so far retrieved from the area.

During Tuesday’s searches, an air force plane saw a “shadow” on the seabed believed to be that of the missing flight, where all search efforts were now being concentrated, Soelistyo said.

Investigators were also looking into the cause of the crash, which is the third disaster for a Malaysian carrier this year.

Relations of AirAsia passengers can’t just hold back the tears

Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch said Tuesday that one of its investigators had arrived in Singapore and met with experts there who are assisting the Indonesian investigation.

– Hunt for black boxes –

Soelistyo said the hunt was on for the plane’s crucial black boxes, which would be handled by the national transport safety committee.

“We have concerns to secure the flight recorders, believed to be with parts of plane we haven’t found,” he said.