( CNN ) The big search is over . That 's the message out of Indonesia , where national search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo announced that the main search-and-recovery operation surrounding doomed commercial airliner AirAsia Flight 8501 officially ended Tuesday . `` These past two months have been the hardest times for all of us at AirAsia and for the families of QZ8501 passengers , '' AirAsia Indonesia CEO Sunu Widyatmoko said . `` No words can express how grateful we are for all the prayers , love and support given us . '' He was referring to the nightmare that the airline and , especially , the loved ones of the 162 people on board the Airbus A320-200 jet have been experiencing since its crew lost contact with air traffic controllers on December 28 . Indonesian Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan later explained the plane climbed rapidly , then stalled shortly before it crashed . Unlike Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 , which disappeared a year ago and still has n't been located , there has been less mystery and more closure over Flight QZ8501 . That 's because searchers did find remnants from the AirAsia aircraft and the remains of some passengers in the Java Sea . That included the jetliner 's fuselage , the last major piece of which was recovered late last month and brought into a Jakarta port earlier this week . As of Tuesday , authorities had identified the bodies of 94 who had been on the AirAsia plane , with six other bodies still in Surabaya 's Bhayangkara Hospital . Yet that leaves scores of other families still waiting . The decision to call off the main search stems from the fact no more human remains were found in the past week , Soelistyo explained . But that does n't mean authorities wo n't be looking at all . There will be a smaller-scale operation , involving divers and three vessels , over the next week , according to Indonesia 's National Search and Rescue Agency . After that , the plan is to call off the search entirely .
Flight QZ8501 touched down in December with 200 on board ; 300 bodies have been recovered so far . Indonesia 's search and rescue team says the operation is moving into a new phase . There will be a smaller - scale search for one more week in the Java Sea .