PANGKALAN BUN (REUTERS) - The AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago in Indonesia likely "experienced an explosion" before hitting the water due to a significant change in air pressure, a senior government official said on Monday.

"My analysis is, based on the wreckage found and other findings, the plane experienced an explosion before it hit the water," Supriyadi, operations coordinator at the National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters.

He said the left side of the plane seemed to have disintegrated, pointing to a change in pressure that could have caused an explosion.