Divers retrieved the crashed AirAsia plane's second black box from the bottom of the Java Sea Tuesday, giving experts essential tools to piece together what brought Flight 8501 down.
The cockpit voice recorder was freed from beneath the heavy remnants of a wing at a depth of about 100 feet, a day after the aircraft's flight data recorder was recovered, said Tonny Budiono, sea navigation director at the Transportation Ministry.
"This is good news for investigators to reveal the cause of the plane crash," he said. The device will be flown to the capital, Jakarta, to be analyzed with the other black box, a process that could take up to two weeks.
The plane disappeared from radar less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on Dec. 28. It was carrying 162 people, but only 48 bodies have been recovered so far.
Searchers have been trying to locate the main section of the aircraft's cabin, where many of the victims are believed to be entombed.
Decomposition is making identification more difficult for desperate families waiting to bury their loved ones. “I still believe many victims remain trapped there," said Gen. Moeldoko, Indonesia's military chief. "And we must find them."
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