Leaked AirAsia flight data shows the plane may have been subject to extraordinary weather before crashing, with experts calling the plane’s behaviour “hard to comprehend”, Fairfax Media has reported.

Indonesian aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman told Fairfax that data showed flight QZ8501 “didn’t fall out of the sky like an aeroplane”.

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“It was like a piece of metal being thrown down. It’s really hard to comprehend … The way it goes down is bordering on the edge of logic,” Mr Soejatman said.

Leaked figures show the plane climbed at an almost unprecedented rate of 6000 to 9000 feet per minute, a rate which is impossible for a pilot to achieve.

It also fell at rates of up to 24,000 feet per minute, but Mr Soejatman said it couldn’t be ruled out the data may be wrong.

University of New South Wales’ aviation expert Peter Marosszeky said the data would indicate the plane, carrying 162 people, was subject to “a severe weather event”.

Mr Marosszeky said the rate of climb the AirAsia flight recorded was usually the “domain for jet fighters”.

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes said preliminary investigations showed the flight had encountered “very unique” weather during its journey from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

Recovery operations continue, with only a handful of victims’ bodies recovered from the Java Sea.