The aircraft belonging to Indonesia’s low-cost carrier Lion Air which crashed shortly after take-off had suffered instrument problems the day before, a media report said.

A technical log from a flight from Bali to Jakarta on Sunday said an instrument was "unreliable" and the pilot had to hand over to the first officer, reported BBC.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliner crashed into the sea with 189 people on board on Monday morning, after taking off from Jakarta heading for the western city of Pangkal Pinang.

While there is no sign of survivors, rescuers have recovered some bodies and personal items, including baby shoes, the report said.

Six body bags have been used so far for human remains recovered, according to a News Corp Australia Network report.

The operations director at the agency, Bambang Suryo Aji was quoted as saying the location of the plane hull hasn’t been identified yet. Waters where it sank are up to 30 metres deep.

The search is currently planned to last seven days and could be extended, the report added.