A SINGAPORE navy ship has located the fuselage of the AirAsia plane that crashed into the sea with 162 people on board, the city-state’s defence chief said.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post he had been informed that one of Singapore’s navy ships involved in the search, MV Swift Rescue, “has located the fuselage of the AirAsia plane in the Java Sea”.

Mr Ng also posted images of the fuselage, which were taken underwater by the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).

He said it showed part of the wing and words on the fuselage.

The words “now” and “everyone” are visible on the photos, apparently from AirAsia’s motto “Now Everyone Can Fly” painted on the plane’s exterior.

DIVERS’ DISCOVERY: Cockpit voice recorder on ocean floor

AIRASIA SEARCH: Black box discovered by divers

media_camera Underwater ... the fuselage in the Java Sea. Picture: Facebook

media_camera More writing ... can be seen below. Picture: Facebook

media_camera Finally found ... the last missing piece to the aircraft. Picture: Facebook

He then wrote: “We have informed BASARNAS, the Indonesian search authority who can now begin recovery operations.”

Mr Hen went on to describe the accident as a “tragic event resulting in the loss of many lives”.

“I hope that with the fuselage located, some form of closure can come to the families of the victims to ease their grief,” he said.

“I would also like to thank all our SAF servicemen who have given this mission their all to help the Indonesians recover the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, and the fuselage. Especially to the crew of MV Swift Rescue, you never gave up - well done.”

Finding the fuselage of the Airbus 320-200 is seen as vital, as most of the victims are believed to be still trapped inside. Just 48 bodies have so far been recovered.

Indonesia’s national search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo confirmed that the fuselage had been found by the Singaporean ship and said divers would head to the wreckage on Thursday.

“It’s dark today, its not possible to dive, so we will dive tomorrow. The main focus is to find victims in the fuselage,” he said.

“If it’s difficult we will lift (the fuselage) up either in part or in whole.”

The plane’s black boxes — the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder — have already been recovered, raising hopes of determining why it went down.

Flight 8501 crashed in the Java Sea on December 28 in stormy weather during a short, routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

media_camera Found ... the newly recovered cockpit voice recorder from the ill-fated AirAsia Flight 8501. Picture: AP

Divers located the crucial second black box just days ago, hours after retrieving the other black box - the flight recorder - from the ocean floor.

Investigators hope it will reveal the final words of the crew and help them determine what went wrong on board the doomed flight.

Earlier this week, investigators said they believed the AirAsia plane “experienced an explosion” before hitting the water, due to a significant change in air pressure.

“My analysis is, based on the wreckage found and other findings, the plane experienced an explosion before it hit the water,” Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operations coordinator at the National Search and Rescue Agency, said.

media_camera Retrieved ... Indonesian officers move the Flight Data Recorder of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 into a suitable protective transportation case. Picture: Adek Berry

He said the left side of the plane seemed to have disintegrated, pointing to a change in pressure that could have caused an explosion.

“The cabin was pressurised and before the pressure of the cabin could be adjusted, it went down - boom. That explosion was heard in the area,” Mr Supriyadi said.

media_camera Crucial find ... Indonesian Military Chief General Moeldoko points to the Flight Data Recorder of the AirAsia flight QZ8501 on board navy vessel KRI Banda Aceh at sea. Picture: Adek Berry

However there is no official confirmation of the tragic events that unfolded as flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea, as an investigator at the National Transport Committee refuted the claims.

“There is no data to support that kind of theory,” said Santoso Sayogo.

Originally published as First images of AirAsia fuselage