A second attempt to lift the main section of the crashed AirAsia plane from the floor of the Java Sea has failed.

Ropes linking the fuselage to giant lifting balloons snapped as rescuers tried to raise it.

During yesterday's first attempt the balloons deflated.

The area of wreckage being examined is also believed to contain parts of the plane's wings, as well as the cockpit.

AirAsia flight 8501 came down on route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore on December 28th with 162 people on board.

The BBC reports that 69 bodies have now been recovered.

A team of navy divers retrieved the flight data recorder from the AirAsia plane last week. The cockpit voice recorder has also been recovered. However poor weather conditions have continued to hamper full salvage and recovery efforts.

Investigators in Indonesia have ruled out terrorism as a cause of the crash.