AirAsia flight QZ8501, which crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday, behaved in ways “bordering on the edge of logic”, according to an Indonesian aviation expert.

Comments from various experts come as France's crash investigation agency said its specialist black box search team and equipment would arrive early Friday at the search area for the AirAsia flight. The black box will reveal what happened in the final moments of the crash, as the truth behind the cause is still unknown.

Only eight victims have been recovered from the Java Sea despite a a brief window of clear conditions on Thursday. Officials say 162 people died the plane crashed on route from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday.

Indonesian aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman believes the aircraft rose up as fast as a fighter jet and then dropped back into the ocean almost vertically into the water.

And the extreme weather which Airbus 320-200 encountered meant the pilots were helpless to save the passengers and crew on-board, Soejatman told Fairfax media after he examined figures leaked from the official air crash investigation team.

He said “It’s really hard to comprehend [the plane acted in a way] bordering on the edge of logic,” as it plunged into the water “‘like a piece of metal being thrown down.”

Mr Soejatman believes the crash occurred because the aircraft was caught in a severe updraft, followed by an equally severe ground draft, with the leaked figures showing that it climbed at a staggering rate of 6000ft to 9000ft per minute.

The aircraft then fell at 11,000ft a minute, with bursts of up to 24,000ft – in marked contrast to regular circumstances, when a plane would climb between 1000ft to 1500ft on a sustained basis, gaining 3000ft in a burst.

“You can’t do that at altitude in an Airbus 320 with pilot action,” he argued.

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

In contrast, aviation expert Peter Marosszeky, from the University of NSW, told the Sydney Morning Herald that the extremely low speed of the aircraft’s descent - as low as 61 knots - would suggest the plane was heading almost straight down, explaining why it has been found in water just 10km from its last point of radar contact.

Mr Marosszeky surmised that a climb rate of at least 6000ft a minute would indicate a “severe weather event,” because that rate of climb was a ‘domain for jet fighters.’

But both experts agree that the jet plunged into the water almost vertically because of a freak weather pattern that placed it under extraordinary force.

Meanwhile, Dudi Sudibyo, a senior editor of aviation magazine Angkasa instead claimed that the pilot managed to land on the sea before the craft was overwhelmed, the Mirror reported.

He suggested the plane landed safely as a heavy impact would have set off emergency locator transmitters on board – but there is no evidence this happened.

The craft was then swamped before sinking below the waves due to the stormy weather, he claimed.