Bad weather and rough seas have prevented Indonesian navy divers from reaching the main section of the AirAsia flight that crashed last month into the Java Sea.
National Search and Rescue official S.B. Supriyadi said heavy rain, coupled with high waves and poor visibility prevented the divers from examining the piece of wreckage.
A 30-meter long fuselage portion with a wing attached was spotted on the bottom of the sea on Wednesday.
Officials say the divers will attempt to go down again early Friday to retrieve bodies believed to be located inside.
Once the search for bodies is complete, the wreckage would be lifted from the seabed.
The Airbus jet crashed December 28 with 162 people on board. Fifty bodies have been recovered.
AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished from radar less than halfway into its flight to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
