Divers retrieved one black box and located the other underwater on Monday from the AirAsia plane that crashed more than two weeks ago.
The cockpit voice recorder was found just hours after officials announced the data flight recorder had been pulled from beneath a piece of the aircraft’s wing and brought to the surface, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operation coordinator at the National Search and Rescue Agency.
Divers began zeroing in on the sites a day earlier after three Indonesian ships picked up intense pings from the area, but they were unable to see the devices due to strong currents and poor visibility.
Watch video: Indonesian divers retrieve AirAsia flight data recorder from sea
The two instruments, which emit signals from their beacons, are vital to understanding what brought Flight QZ8501 down on December 28, killing all 162 people on board.
The flight data recorder was lodged in debris from the wing at a depth of about 100 feet, Mr. Supriyadi said. Once it was found, divers concentrated on locating the source of the other ping heard only a few metres away.
Once the second device is recovered, both boxes will be taken to Jakarta for analysis. It could take up to two weeks to download their information, said Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at the National Committee for Safety Transportation.
Rescuers hunting for the crashed AirAsia plane detected “pings” believed to be from its crucial black box, a top Indonesian official said, raising hopes of unravelling the mystery of the deadly crash. >Read more…
Harsh measures against everyone who allowed AirAsia Flight 8501 to take off without proper permits including the suspension of the airport’s operator and officials in the control tower. >Read more…
Dozens of bodies have been recovered, and search teams have detected what is believed to be the plane’s wreckage, but many questions remain unanswered. Here are some of them. >Read more…
Sunu Widyatmoko, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Indonesia said: “We are sorry to be here today under these tragic circumstances. We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501. Our sympathies also go out to the families of our dear colleagues." >Read more…
The disappearance of an AirAsia passenger jet soon after takeoff inevitably brings back memories of the mystery behind Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared nearly 10 months ago and is yet to be found. >Read more…
The hunt got a much-needed boost over the weekend when the tail was lifted from the seabed.
On Sunday, Henry Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, said divers located the wing and debris from the engine.
So far, only 48 bodies have been recovered.
