Jakarta Globe & Agencies, Jan 11, 2015
Jakarta. Indonesian divers on Sunday found the black box of the AirAsia plane which crashed in the Java Sea a fortnight ago with 162 people aboard, the transportation ministry said.
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| The tail of the AirAsia QZ8501 passenger plane lies on the deck of the Indonesian Search and Rescue (Basarnas) ship Crest Onyx after it was recovered at sea on Jan. 10, 2015. (Antara Photo/Prasetyo Utomo) |
Jakarta. Indonesian divers on Sunday found the black box of the AirAsia plane which crashed in the Java Sea a fortnight ago with 162 people aboard, the transportation ministry said.
But they
failed to retrieve it because it was stuck under debris from the main body of
the plane, it added.
“The navy
divers in Jadayat state boat have succeeded in finding a very important
instrument, the black box of AirAsia QZ8501,” said Tonny Budiono, a senior
ministry official.
Tonny said
the black box’s coordinates were 03.37.21 South/109.42.42 East at a depth of 30
to 32 meters.
Divers will
attempt to recover the flight data recorder tomorrow.
“Because of
time constraints, [we] have decided to retrieve the black boxes tomorrow
morning by gradually shifting these layers of aircraft body debris,” Tonny said.
But if that
fails, Tonny said divers would lift the debris using inflatable balloons, the
same technique used to lift the tail section on Saturday.
Navy
spokesman Manahan Simorangkir, however, denied that the black box had been
found, saying divers could not confirm its exact location due to poor weather
and visibility.
Earlier on
Sunday three search vessels detected pings about five kilometers from where the
tail of the Airbus A320-200 aircraft was raised on Saturday.
Indonesia
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control during thundery
weather on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya to
Singapore. There were no survivors.
Forty-eight
bodies have been found in the Java Sea off Kalimantan.
If and when
the recorders are found and taken to Jakarta, for analysis, it could take up to
two weeks to download data, investigators said, although the information could
be accessed in as little as two days if the devices are not badly damaged.
The
aircraft carries cockpit voice and flight data recorders — or black boxes —
near its tail but once the wreckage was visible, it quickly became apparent
that the flight recorders were still underwater.
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