Object spotted in sea not from AirAsia

An object spotted during a sea search for an AirAsia plane wasn't from the aircraft, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla says.

"It has been checked and no sufficient evidence was found to confirm what was reported," Mr Kalla told a press conference at Surabaya airport from where the ill-fated plane departed.

Earlier, Indonesian officials said they had been informed that an Australian aircraft had found something suspicious in the water.

Australia, Singapore and Malaysia have deployed planes and ships to assist in the Indonesian search for Flight QZ8501, which disappeared over the Java Sea on Sunday en route to Singapore.