Extreme cloud temperature tied to AirAsia crash

SURABAYA, Indonesia -- Hendra Gunawan Syawal, 23, took what may have been the last photograph of Flight 8501 before it took off. Less than an hour later, the plane disappeared.

Even as the search continues, Indonesian authorities have concluded that the weather caused the crash. A satellite image showed cloud temperatures as cold as 121 degrees below zero.

Three days after the crash the Indonesian transport ministry imposed mandatory up-to-date weather briefings for pilots. But in an open letter one pilot dismissed the directive.

"Pilots of airlines around the world do self-briefings," he wrote. "They get printed weather information from systems used by their airlines."

Monday was the best weather the searchers have had since the plane went down. Ships using sonar scoured the area where five large pieces of wreckage were detected over the weekend.

Families whose loved ones have been identified gather in a designated "mourning area" to accept condolences. Some are offered in the form of specially-painted and highly-decorated signs.

This one, below, is for 10-year-old Stevie Gunawan. She was identified by the Minnie Mouse t-shirt she was wearing.

The hope is that divers will retrieve the plane's flight recorders among the wreckage spotted a few days ago. And only then will authorities be able to confirm that icing -- from those storm clouds -- likely triggered the crash.