DHAKA: Indonesian search and rescue teams plan to start lifting the crashed AirAsia jet’s tail off the sea bed on Friday, officials said, raising hopes that ‘black box’ recorders can be retrieved to reveal the cause of the disaster.

Scores of divers plunged into the Java Sea on Thursday to search the wreckage of Flight QZ8501, which vanished from radar screens on December 28 less than half-way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore.

There were no survivors among the 162 people on board.

The cause of the crash remains a mystery, with hopes centring on the so-called black boxes - the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - providing vital clues.

The plane was an Airbus A320-200, which carries the recorders near the tail section. Officials have warned, however, that the recorders could have become separated from the tail during the disaster.

The tail of the plane was found on Wednesday, upturned on the sea bed about 30 km from the plane's last known location at a depth of around 28-32 metres.

‘The weather prevented the operation to lift the tail today,’ search and rescue agency coordinator Supriyadi told reporters in Pangkalan Bun, the southern Borneo town closest to the crash site, according to The Straits Times.

Choppy seas, strong currents and poor visibility have dogged the search throughout. ‘The operation using (a) balloon to lift the tail will start tomorrow,’ Supriyadi added.

BDST: 2033 HRS, JAN 08, 2015