Indonesian divers recover 'black box' from crash of Sriwijaya Air 737

Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Search teams have recovered one of the critical flight recorders from an Indonesian airliner that crashed last weekend in the Java Sea, officials said Tuesday.

Navy divers recovered the "black box" from Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, a Boeing 737, which crashed shortly after leaving Jakarta on Saturday carrying 62 passengers and crew.

Authorities said the recovered box is the flight data recorder, which logs all of the plane's technical data from the flight. Officials said the other, the cockpit voice recorder, has not yet been located.

Officials said the recorder has been turned over to Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, which is the chief agency investigating the crash.

Navy divers found the first recorder amid the plane's wreckage on Sunday. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency said it was located within a few hundred feet of the main crash site.

It was initially reported over the weekend, incorrectly, that both boxes had been located.

Saturday's was the first plane crash in Indonesia since a Lion Air flight went down into the same sea three years ago, which was one of two crashes that directly led to the grounding of Boeing's 737 Max fleet.

The aircraft involved in Saturday's crash is not a 737 Max, but a much older 737-500 model. It entered service in 1994.

Fifty passengers and 12 crew members were aboard the flight. Families have been gathering at the victim identification center in Jakarta hoping to learn more information.

A number of the victims have been identified.

Indonesia's Transport Ministry said the flight had been grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic between last March and December, and the aircraft had passed inspection last month.