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Divers Retrieve Crucial AirAsia Cockpit Black Box

Indonesian divers pulled out the cockpit voice recorder from the sunken wreckage of an AirAsia passenger jet on Tuesday, a key step towards determining the … Continue reading Divers Retrieve Crucial AirAsia Cockpit Black Box


201511315437257734_20Indonesian divers pulled out the cockpit voice recorder from the sunken wreckage of an AirAsia passenger jet on Tuesday, a key step towards determining the cause of the crash that killed all 162 people aboard.

The cockpit voice recorder, which retains the last two hours of conversation between the pilots and air traffic controllers, was found close to where the flight data recorder was recovered from the bottom of the Java Sea on Monday.

“Today we have completed searching for the main things that we have been looking for,” Rear Admiral Widodo, the commander of the navy’s western fleet, told reporters after handing over the cockpit voice recorder to investigators on Tuesday.

“But the team will still try to find the body of the plane in case there are still bodies inside.”

Together the black boxes, which are actually orange, contain a wealth of data that will be crucial for investigators piecing together the sequence of events that led to the Airbus A320-200 plunging into the sea.

The cockpit voice recorder is expected to be sent to the capital, Jakarta, for analysis.

A total of 48 bodies have so far been recovered from the sea, some of them still strapped into seats. But that leaves more than 100 missing.

The overwhelming majority of the people on Flight QZ8501 were Indonesian. There were also citizens of Britain, France, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

Government officials sought to reassure victims’ families that divers would continue to search for bodies.

“Our main task is to find the victims,” Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters in Jakarta before heading to Surabaya to meet families of the victims.

“Even if both (black boxes) are found, it doesn’t mean that our operation is over.”

Relatives of the victims urged authorities to continue to search for the remains of their loved ones.

“Even if the search has to last for a month, we are still hoping to find them,” said Lioni, who lost four family members in the plane crash. “If they can find even one (of my family members), we would feel a little bit relieved.”