The first two bodies retrieved from the wreckage of AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 were brought home in plain wooden coffins Wednesday as investigators continued to unravel the mystery of what caused Sunday’s crash in the Java Sea.
Marked simply “001” and “002,” the flower-topped caskets holding the remains of a woman and a boy were carried on the shoulders of Indonesian soldiers in blue berets during a brief ceremony at the airport where the doomed flight originated, Surabaya.
The remains of five additional passengers also have been found at the crash site, but rough weather prevented their return.
Grieving relatives who awaited news Wednesday have been asked to provide DNA to help identify the victims as they arrive.
Meanwhile, investigators are looking into the possibility that the jet came down after climbing too steeply in bad weather.
“So far, the numbers taken by the radar are unbelievably high. This rate of climb is very high, too high. It appears to be beyond the performance envelope of the aircraft,” a source said.
Those numbers were transmitted just before air traffic controllers lost all contact with the flight, which was headed to Singapore.
Investigators also are looking into the possibility that violent weather contributed to the crash.
The six-year-old aircraft fell into the sea, killing all 162 people aboard, soon after the pilot requested permission to turn left and climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet in an effort to avoid poor weather conditions.
Some aviation experts have speculated that it wasn’t traveling fast enough to make that steep of an ascent, causing it to stall.
As many mourn the loss of loved ones, at least 15 people who had planned to be on the flight are thankful they never made it aboard.
One family showed up late at the airport after missing messages from the airline informing them the flight had been moved to an earlier time. Another mother canceled her family’s trip when her father came down with hepatitis.