AirAsia Second Black Box Reportedly Found In Java Sea

Divers Tuesday recovered the second of two black boxes from AirAsia Flight 8501, two weeks after the plane plunged into the Java Sea en route to Singapore, killing the 162 people aboard, Reuters reported. The device was found under a weighty piece of wreckage, USA Today said.

“The CVR [cockpit voice recorder] has been found and lifted from the sea,” an official involved with the search said, according to the Agence France-Presse. The flight data recorder was retrieved Monday was found under the plane’s wing wreckage about 100 feet below the surface, AirAsia said on its Facebook page.

Though it’s been widely reported the device was found, a government official would not confirm the news to Reuters. "Diving began at 6 a.m. and is still continuing. No results to report yet," Supriyadi, operations coordinator for the National Search and Rescue Agency, told the news agency.

The cockpit voice recorder has information like the sounds in the cockpit and radio transmissions. It also has two hours worth of conversations among the pilot, co-pilot, crew and air traffic control. The flight data recorder archives information like the speed of the plane.

Finding both of the black boxes is be key in determining why the AirAsia Airbus A320-200 crashed. It could take as long as two weeks to download all the information.

It’s the first crisis AirAsia has faced in its 13 years of operation. “Rest assured, we are committed to reviewing and improving our products and services. We are more focused than ever to provide you with nothing but the best,” Tony Fernandes, the airline’s founder, said in a statement, according to the AFP. “Even in our toughest times, we will continue to be the world’s best and be better for you.”

Forty-eight bodies have been pulled from the sea, Reuters reported. Divers hope to find more in the fuselage of the plane.

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