Dozens of bodies were recovered from Indonesian waters Tuesday — two days after a doomed AirAsia jetliner crashed with 162 people aboard, leaving anguished relatives prepared for the worst while hoping for a miracle.

The low-cost carrier’s Airbus A320-200 disappeared Sunday after encountering storm clouds halfway through a flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Searchers on Tuesday discovered what appeared to be a life jacket and an emergency exit door. Items from the plane, including an oxygen tank and an intact suitcase, were taken to the nearest town, Pangkalan Bun.

Air Force First Adm. Sigit Setiayanta initially told reporters that six corpses were spotted off Borneo island and about 10 miles from the plane’s last known location. The bodies and wreckage were found about 100 miles from land.

The airline released the following statement: “AirAsia Indonesia regrets to inform that The National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia (BASARNAS) today confirmed that the debris found earlier today is indeed from QZ8501, the flight that had lost contact with air traffic control on the morning of 28th.”

Airline boss Tony Fernandes tweeted: “My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ8501. On behalf of AirAsia, my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am.”

Images of floating bodies were broadcast on television as relatives at a crisis center in Surabaya wailed — with some collapsing in grief, Reuters reported.

“You have to be strong,” Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini said as she comforted them. “They are not ours, they belong to God.”

Despite the grim news, Ifan Joko, 54, said he was still hoping for a miracle. His brother, Charlie Gunawan, along with his wife, three children and two other releatives, were traveling to Singapore on the flight to celebrate the New Year.

“I know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his family are dead,” he said tearfully. “… We still pray they are alive.”

Rescuers were seen on TV being lowered from a helicopter to retrieve bodies amid 6-foot waves and strong winds. Several bodies were later picked up by a navy ship, officials said. Indonesian TV showed a half-naked man’s body whose shirt partially covered his head. Wreckage was seen underwater in clear water 65 to 100 feet.

The airline said it was inviting relatives to Surabaya, “where a dedicated team of care providers will be assigned to each family to ensure that all of their needs are met.”

“The challenge is waves up to three metres high,” said Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of the Search and Rescue Agency, adding that the search would continue all night.

About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the US are taking part in the operation. The US announced it was sending the USS Sampson destroyer.

The airliner, which did not issue a distress signal, vanished after one of the pilots was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic in the area, officials said.

It was flying at 32,000 feet and the pilot requested permission to fly at 38,000 feet. Requests to gain altitude to avoid thunderstorms were not unusual in the area, experts said.

AirAsia said the Indonesian pilot was experienced and that the plane underwent maintenance last in mid-November. Airbus said the aircraft had accumulated about 23,000 flight hours in

about 13,600 flights.

Online discussions among pilots have mentioned unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the plane might have stalled because it was climbing at a speed of 353 knots — about 100 knots too slow, Reuters reported.

The airliner’s captain, Iriyanto, 53, was an excellent jet fighter pilot before he took early retirement to join commercial airlines, the Jakarta Post reported, citing his colleagues.

One of his two daughters, Angela Anggi Ranastianis, 25, posted a frantic message online late Sunday.

“Papa, come home, I still need you. Bring back my papa. Papa, please come home. Papa needs to be found. Papa should come home,” she wrote, the Jakarta Post reported.

Meanwhile, an AirAsia Zest plane, carrying 159 passengers and crew members from Manila, overshot a runway Tuesday at Kalibo in the central Philippines after the Airbus A320-200 landed in windy weather. No one was hurt.

Domestic carrier AirAsia Zest is partly owned by AirAsia Philippines. Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia.

AirAsia’s tragedy follows the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March with 239 people aboard, and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July over Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers and crew.