Navy divers recover ‘black box’ from crashed Indonesian plane

 

 

 

INDONESIAN Navy divers searching the ocean floor have recovered a “black box” from a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people on board. The recovery of the device is expected to help investigators determine what caused the Boeing 737-500 plane to nosedive into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Jakarta on Saturday. TV stations on Tuesday showed divers on an inflatable vessel with a large white container containing the black box. It was unclear whether the device was the plane’s flight data or cockpit voice recorder.

 

It is to be handed over to the National Transportation Safety Committee, which is overseeing the crash investigation. A Navy ship earlier picked up intense pings being emitted from the boxes, which officials said were buried in the seabed under tons of sharp objects in the wreckage. Meanwhile, a total of 74 bags containing human body parts have been retrieved by the divers, Rasman M S, the agency’s operation director, said on Tuesday. Besides, 24 large parts of the plane wreckage and 16 bags containing small pieces of the plane’s body have been lifted from the seafloor, the director said.