The pilot who discovered the debris from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 has said he saw that three of the bodies recovered were holding hands.

Lieutenant Airman Tri Wobowo, who co-piloted the C130 Hercules aircraft that first saw the items of the aircraft off the coast of Borneo earlier today, described the scene that greeted rescuers in the water.

“There are seven to eight people. Three [of them] again hold hands,” he told Indonesian national newspaper Kompas.

As well as the bodies, the pilot reported seeing luggage, buoys and pieces of the aircraft itself – painted the distinctive red, black and white of AirAsia.

In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Show all 28 1 /28 In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian rescue personnel unload body bags from a military helicopter in Pangkalan Bun containing bodies recovered from the underwater wreckage of ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian rescue personnel unload body bags from a military helicopter in Pangkalan Bun containing bodies recovered from the underwater wreckage of ill-fated AirAsia flight QZ8501 In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian national search and rescue agency's (BASARNAS) members prepare the lifting bags for recovery of the fuselage of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Panglima Utar Kumai Harbour in Kumai, Central Borneo In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 A member of Indonesia's search and rescue team walks past wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501 recovered at sea and stored in a warehouse for investigators in Kumai, Central Kalimantan on Borneo island In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Members of the National Search and Rescue Agency carry coffins containing bodies of the victims aboard AirAsia Flight 8501 to transfer to Surabaya at the airport in Pangkalan Bun In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian search and rescue personnel pull wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501 onto the Crest Onyx ship at sea In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 An Indonesian diver and an official examine the wreckage from AirAsia flight QZ8501 after it was lifted into the Crest Onyx ship at sea In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian rescue personnels carry a wrecked seat of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 airliner recovered from the crash site at Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 After nearly a week of searching for the victims, rescue teams have so far recovered 30 bodies Getty In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian Air Force personnel during a search operation for the victims of the crashed AirAsia plane over the Java Sea, 1 January 2015 EPA In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian officers carry coffins with the remains of passengers of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 AFP/Getty In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 A coffin of a victim of AirAsia flight QZ8501 is transferred from a local hospital in Pangkalan Bun, the town with the nearest airstrip to the crash site of AirAsia flight QZ8501, in Central Kalimantan In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian national search and rescue agency (BASARNAS) members and Indonesian Air Force crew carry a dead body from a helicopter, during search and rescue operations for the crashed AirAsia plane, at Iskandar Military Airport, in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 A vigil for victims of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 crash in Surabaya, Indonesia Getty Images In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Members of the Indonesia marines unload their diving equipment In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Indonesian people pray for passengers of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 in Malang, East Java In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Messages for passengers on board the missing AirAsia flight 8501 are placed on a board at Changi International Airport in Singapore In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Commander of Indonesian Air Force 1st Operational Command Rear Marshall Dwi Putranto, center, shows the airplane parts and a suitcase found floating on the water near the site where AirAsia Flight 8501 disappeared, during a press conference at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Captain Irianto's (the pilot of AirAsia QZ8501 flight) relatives and his wife Widiya Sukati (3rd L) Putri gather in his house at Sidoarjo in Surabaya, Indonesia In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Family members of passengers onboard missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 pray together while waiting for a briefing inside the crisis-centre set up at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANAMANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 An Indonesian Navy airman prays on his plane before searching the waters near Bangka Island for debris from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Ed Wray/Getty Images In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 react after watching news reports showing an unidentified body floating in the Java sea, inside the crisis-centre set up at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 An unidentified object, found during a search and rescue operation by the Indonesian Air Force for the missing AirAsia plane, is seen floating in the ocean off the coast of Pangkalan Bun, Borneo, Indonesia In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Authorities monitor progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Mission Control Center inside the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta Reuters In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Relatives hold a picture of the Herumanto Tanus family as they wait for news from the missing AirAsia plane EPA In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 A relative looks to a list of passengers of Air Asia missing plane at Juanda Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia EPA In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Relatives cry and comfort each other EPA In pictures: Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 A child writes a post-it note on a board of well wishes for the passengers of the missing AirAsia flight QZ 8501, outside the relatives' holding area at Changi airport in Singapore EPA/WALLACE WOON

Flight QZ8501 disappeared on Sunday en route to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia. The passenger plane was carrying 162 people at the time of its disappearance, including one Briton.

Indonesian authorities and AirAsia have both confirmed that the wreckage is Flight QZ8501.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said in a statement: “I am absolutely devastated. This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the wellbeing of the family members of those onboard QZ8501.”