The fuselage of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been found in the Java Sea by Singaporean Navy ship, MV Swift Rescue.

The main body of the aircraft was found around 3km away from the point where the tail section was recovered.

National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Ony Soeryo Wibowo was quoted by Reuters as saying: "A marker was placed on the engine. Beside the engine is the fuselage, the wing and a lot of debris."

"A marker was placed on the engine."

Flying from Surabaya to Singapore, the AirAsia A320-200 with 155 passengers and seven crew members on-board lost contact with the air traffic control before it crashed into the sea.

Searchers have recovered 50 bodies of passengers and crew so far and those missing are believed to be trapped inside the aircraft.

More than 30 ships and aerial searches have been deployed as part of the multi-national search for the aircraft.

Search efforts have been made more difficult by strong currents, high waves and poor visibility over the sea.

The air crash investigation team in Jakarta has started analysing data from the flight data recorder, to identify the cause of the crash.

Data from the flight data recorder has been retrieved and the team will analyse up to 25 hours of data to obtain information such as the speed, altitude and engine temperature of the aircraft before it crashed.

Data from the cockpit voice recorder, which stores two hours of conversations on the flight deck, has yet to be retrieved.