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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
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News Asia-Pacific
Indonesia jet 'black boxes' found
Investigators recovered only small parts of the jet which disappeared en route to Sulawesi [Reuters]

Salvage crews have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from an Indonesian aircraft that crashed in almost 9 months ago.

 

The recorders will now be sent to the United States to determine the cause of the accident.

Efforts to recover the so-called "black boxes" have been delayed for months due to disagreements over who should pay.

 

The Adam Air Boeing 737 plunged into the ocean off the island of Sulawesi on January 1, killing all 102 people on board.

Indonesia air disasters


The Aviation Safety Network has recorded 48 air accidents in Indonesia in the last decade, 23 of which resulted in fatalities with more than 700 people killed.

March 7, 2007 (above): Garuda airlines Boeing 737 overhsoots runway at Yogyakarta, Java. 21 die and many others escape burning wreckage.

1 January, 2007: AdamAir Boeing 737 crashes into the sea near Makassar, Sulawesi. 102 passengers and crew presumed dead.

5 September 2005: Mandala Airlines Boeing 737 crashes into residential area shortly after take off at Medan, Sumatra. 101 people on the plane and 44 on the ground killed.

26 September, 1997: Garuda Airbus A300 hits hillside descending into Medan. All 234 passengers and crew killed in Indonesia's worst single air disaster.

Source: Aviation Safety Network

Tatang Kurniadi, chairman of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety said the recorders were found by a vessel operated by the US company Phoenix International scouring the waters off Sulawesi island.

 

"They have retrieved two black boxes," he said.

 

"God willing, they are still readable."

 

Kurniadi said both recorders had been discovered close to each other some 2,000 metres down on the sea bed.

 

He declined to comment when asked who was paying the estimated $3m bill for recovering the recorders.

 

The devices will be sent to the National Transportation Safety Board in the US for analysis.

 

Indonesia is trying to improve its safety image after three aircraft accidents this year prompted the European Union to blacklist all of country's airlines.

 

The US Federal Aviation Administration has also downgraded Indonesia's safety rating to its lowest category.
 Source: Agencies
 
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