Indonesian Divers Retrieve Flight Data Recorder From Crashed AirAsia Plane

The chief of the Indonesian search and rescue operation reported that the flight data recorder of the crashed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 was taken up from the sea bottom.

MOSCOW, January 12 (Sputnik) — Indonesian divers on Monday brought up from the sea bottom the flight data recorder of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501, more than two weeks after it crashed into the Java Sea, the chief of the Indonesian search and rescue operation told reporters.

Operations chief Bambang Soelistyo was cited by several news agencies as saying early Monday that a black box was retrieved at 07:11 a.m. (00:11 GMT).

Flight data recorder arrived at the airbase in Pangkalan Bun #AirAsia #QZ8501 pic.twitter.com/qF1ubeyH7E

— Haneef Puttur (@haneef_puttur) 12 января 2015

BREAKING: First look at the #QZ8501 black box, now at Pangkalan Bun pic.twitter.com/L7T03DR8dJ | @ChannelNewsAsia #AirAsia

— Inquirer Group (@inquirerdotnet) 12 января 2015

AirAsia's Airbus A320-200 was heading to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, when it crashed into the sea on December 28. It carried 155 passengers and seven crew members, all of whom died.

Strong signals detected from #AirAsia flight #QZ8501 black boxes http://t.co/aUTV7XuwW0 pic.twitter.com/aTwcf56wG8

— RT (@RT_com) January 11, 2015

The finding is one of the jet's two "black boxes" that can provide clues on the reasons behind the crash. It was originally located in the plane's tail. The other black box, a cockpit voice recorder is still missing, according to Soelistyo.

He said the flight recorder had been discovered by divers under part of the plane's wing. Indonesian rescuers have been working at the site ever since three ships picked up the pings from the black box's location beacons early on Sunday.

A multinational team of search experts, including more than 70 Russian rescuers, have been looking for the plane's wreckage since the jet vanished off radars. A total of 48 bodies have been recovered from the sea so far.