The search for the remaining bodies from tragic AirAsia flight QZ8501 has officially ended . Bambang Soelistyo , the head of Indonesia 's rescue agency , confirmed that the ships involved in the search were pulled out on Wednesday . AirAsia lost contact with flight QZ 8501 on December 28 as it was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board . The search effort has recovered 106 bodies , with 56 still missing . Indonesian rescue personnel carry a coffin bearing the recovered body of an AirAsia flight QZ8501 victim onto a plane in Pangkalan Bun airport on Tuesday . AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes said that 'contingencies ' would be put in place should not all the bodies be located . Rescuers wave at an Indonesian Air Force helicopter while standing around the rescued tail section of flight QZ8051 . The families of those missing will now have to try and go on with their lives , but the chance of them finding closure looks gone forever . Frangky Chandra , the older brother of Gani Chandra , an Indonesian man who was on board the plane , and whose body has not been found , told the BBC it was difficult for his family to move on . ‘ We will never stop waiting , ’ Mr Chandra said . He said 'the most important thing ' was that DV1 , the official search team , has said it will help with the identification process if any more bodies are found . Tony Fernandes , the CEO of AirAsia , told reporters last week that to 'get more than 50 per cent ( of the bodies ) is considered a huge success ’ . He said the airline was giving it 'one last shot ' at recovering those still missing . But he added that the search could not ‘ go on indefinitely ’ . The tail section of crashed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is taken away by at the Crest Onyx ship . The AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 , killing all 162 people on board . A section of the tail of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 passenger plane is inspected on the deck of the rescue ship Crest Onyx . A total of 56 bodies still remain missing since the plane crashed into the Java Sea en route from Surabaya , Indonesia , to Singapore , on December 28 , killing all 162 people on board . 'It is our responsibly to look after those families as best as we can , ' Mr Fernandes said last week . He said he was in 'constant dialogue ' with the families of those still missing , and that 'contingencies ' would be put in place should not all the bodies be located . 'QZ8051 was probably the worst moment of my life and it continues to be something that will haunt me forever , ' he said . Mr Fernandes would not be drawn on why the preliminary official report into the crash was not being made public . Indonesian investigators earlier this year submitted the report into the plane crash to the International Civil Aviation Organisation , keeping its contents secret . An Indonesian search and rescue helicopter prepares for landing on the Indonesian navy vessel KRI Timur Yunusov Aceh during operations in the Java Sea in January . Mr Fernandes said it was 'not right for him to say whether they should have or whether they should n't have ' publicised the report , adding there must have been a 'valid reason ' for the decision . He also defended AirAsia 's safety record . 'All I can say is that we 're regulated by lots and lots of authorities and no one has banned us from coming to their country , ' he said . Mr Fernandes supports the move for better aircraft tracking technology . Mr Fernandes also said he supported better aircraft tracking technology amid the ongoing mystery about the whereabouts of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 . ' I ca n't see why data ca n't be sent to the cloud every five minutes for instance , ' he said . 'It 's ridiculous in this day and age that you can find your iPhone but we ca n't find an aircraft . ' The tail of AirAsia QZ8501 was one of the biggest finds of the search operation .
Search for victims of AirAsia plane crash is finally called off . The search effort has recovered 106 bodies , with 56 still missing . ‘ We will never stop waiting , ’ one family member says . AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes said 'contingencies ' would be put in place should not all the bodies be located . Mr Fernandes also said he supported better aircraft tracking technology . The plane crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 , killing all 162 people .