AKIPRESS.COM - "Pings" have been detected in the Java Sea which could have come from the "black box" flight recorders of AirAsia flight QZ8501, officials say.

The commander of the Indonesian armed forces, Gen Moeldoko, told the BBC divers had been sent to investigate.

The pings were heard near where the plane's tail was found. Officials say the black box could have been separated from the rear part of the plane.

QZ8501 disappeared from radar on 28 December with 162 people on board.

No survivors have been found from the Airbus A320-200, which was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

"We received an update from the field that the pinger locator already detected pings," said Santoso Sayogo, an investigator at the National Transportation Safety Committee.

"We have our fingers crossed it is the black box. Divers need to confirm. Unfortunately it seems it's off from the tail. But the divers need to confirm the position."

The "black box" flight data recorders are usually housed inside the rear part of the plane. They are designed to survive a crash and being submerged in water, and contain underwater locator beacons which emit the so-called "pings" for at least 30 days.

Finding them has been one of the top priorities for search teams as they provide crucial clues from the last moments of the flight before it came down.

The cause of the crash is unknown but the plane encountered bad weather and asked for a flight path change before communication was lost.