Part of the tail of a missing jetliner has been found off Indonesia, a search official tells CNN.

Search official: Fisherman finds part of jetliner

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- A fisherman has discovered a piece of a jetliner missing for more than 10 days in northwest Indonesia, a military official for the country told CNN Thursday.

The discovery of part of the Boeing 737 was made in the Java Sea about 3 a.m. (8 p.m. Wednesday GMT), First Adm. Edy Suyanto, head of the Indonesian military base at Makassar, said.

Authorities were able to confirm it was part of the Adam Air flight, Suyanto said. The part was found in the water about 8 kilometers (5 miles) south of Parepare, north of Makassar in Sulawesi province, and about 300 meters (984 feet) from the beach, Suyanto said.

Although the part was found in the water, Suyanto said, authorities still do not know whether the airliner crashed into the Java Sea or in the mountainous terrain of western Sulawesi province.

The plane disappeared from radar January 1 during bad weather, which also hampered the search and rescue mission. Continued