by Mathias Hariyadi

Divers recover the Flight Data Recorder, which records the flight parameters; the second part, which logs communications in the cockpit, is still missing. Recovery operations hampered by bad weather in the area. Most of the bodies still trapped in the aircraft’s wreckage.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - More than two weeks after the crash, teams of Indonesian divers have identified and recovered one part of the black box of flight AirAsia QZ8501, which crashed last December 28 in the waters of the Sea of Java. The part in question is the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), the section that keeps track of the flight parameters of numerical nature regarding the last 25 hours of the plane.

Poor visibility in the deep sea, combined with ongoing bad weather are seriously hampering the search. After two days of waiting, only in the early hours of this morning were the divers able to dive and bring the FDR to the surface.

The head of the National Emergency Agency, Bambang Soelistyo, emphasizes that the teams are still looking for the second part of the black box, that logs communications inside the cockpit. So far the bodies of dozens of victims have been recovered, but most are still trapped in the wreckage of the aircraft.

Experts count on finding all the components of the black box and intend to shed light on the causes that led to the tragedy, for what was considered a routine, short radius flight. Experts hope to find out whether the plane stalled and crashed, or suffered structural damage at high altitude.

The AirAsia plane, an Airbus 320-200, took off  the morning of December 28 from Surabaya bound for Singapore. At a certain point, the pilot sent a radio message, asking to climb to 11 thousand meters to avoid thick cumulus clouds. Immediately after the plane disappeared from radar and crashing into the seabed.

The vanished airplane carried 155 passengers: 137 adults, 17 children and a baby. Most of them are from Indonesia, but there is also a Briton, a Malaysian, a Singaporean and three South Koreans. The crew consisted of two pilots and five crew members, all Indonesians except for the French co-pilot.

AirAsia is a low-cost airline based in Malaysia. QZ8501 had been flying for only six years completing 26 thousand hours. It underwent a technical maintenance inspection on November 16.

 

• INDONESIA
• airasia
• flight
• black
• box
• java
• sea
• crash
• recovery