Divers probe fuselage of AirAsia Flight 8501

Four bodies were retrieved as the team tried to lift the fuselage. Photo / AP

Salvage teams have begun trying to raise the fuselage of AirAsia Flight 8501 from the sea bed.

The bid comes a day after divers were able to enter the main section of the jet for the first time, leading to the recovery of four more bodies.

Difficult weather had prevented rescuers reaching the primary wreckage of the Airbus A320-200 since it was spotted by a military vessel earlier this month.

"We have begun the operation today to lift the main body and we hope we can float it today," rescue agency official S.B. Supriyadi said.

Just after dawn, divers descended to tie flotation bags to the fuselage, said Rasyid Kacong, the navy official overseeing the lifting operation.

Unfortunately the ropes snapped but "we are now trying again and it is in the process", Kacong said.

Four bodies believed to have come from inside the fuselage were retrieved as the team tried to lift the main section, bringing the total recovered to 69.

The previous day, a jumble of wires and seats inside the fuselage prevented the divers from entering further to find more bodies.

"They said it was dark inside, the seats where floating about and the wires were like a tangled yarn," Supriyadi said.

Once the fuselage is lifted, rescuers hope it will be easier to retrieve more bodies, he said.

The black boxes were recovered last week and investigators are analysing them.

Flight QZ8501 went down in the Java Sea on December 28 in stormy weather with 162 people on board.

- AAP