Search Teams Find AirAsia 8501 Tail Wing, Possible Black Box

Search and rescue teams working in the Java Sea to find the remains of AirAsia flight 8501 have reportedly recovered what they believe to be a section of the plane's tail wing.

The recent discovery of the tail wing of AirAsia 8501 proves as a hopeful find for researchers, as the commercial airliner's black box is located in that part of the aircraft. Indonesian officials have said that the black box will provide information on the plane's location when it crashed, what was said by pilots and sounds from inside the plane's cabin.

"We found what has a high probability of being the tail of the plane," Yayan Sofyan‎, who is leading one of the naval search vessels that discovered the wing, told Reuters.

According to USA Today, other officials are being careful not to confirm the discovery of the wing until they are certain.

"I am not saying it's the tail yet," Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, told USA Today. "That is suspected. Now we are trying to confirm it."

Search and rescue teams are hopeful that the black box with be intact and reveal information as to how the commercial airliner, carrying 162 people, crashed two Sundays ago in Indonesia's Java Sea after reporting stormy weather.

Some experts say that the plane's last known coordinates indicate it took a steep incline before plummeting into the ocean, suggesting that it was somehow affected by the torrential weather conditions.

So far, search and rescue teams have successfully recovered 37 bodies from the wreckage, with some victims still strapped into their seats when they were found.