News|Aviation

Indonesia recovers cockpit voice recorder of Sriwijaya Air jet

Recorder is crucial in helping investigators understand the actions taken by the pilots as the plane experienced an imbalance in engine thrust.

Divers spent nearly three months searching for voice recorder in relatively shallow but muddy waters that sometimes attract strong currents [File: Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters]
Published On 31 Mar 2021

Indonesia’s transport ministry has announced that it had recovered the cockpit voice recorder of a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff on January 9, killing all 62 people on board.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Indonesian Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said that the recorder was found late on Tuesday.

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A ministry spokeswoman earlier declined to comment on whether it was in good condition.

Divers found the casing and beacon of the voice recorder from the 26-year-old Boeing 737-500 within days of the crash but had spent nearly three months searching for the memory unit in relatively shallow but muddy waters that sometimes attract strong currents.

It took a similar amount of time to recover the voice recorder of the Lion Air 737 MAX that crashed in nearby waters in 2018.

A preliminary report by investigators into the Sriwijaya crash said the plane had an imbalance in engine thrust that eventually led the plane into a sharp roll and then a final dive into the sea.

That report included information from the plane’s other “black box”, the flight data recorder, which was recovered soon after the crash.

The voice recorder could help investigators understand the actions taken by the pilots.

 

The mid-market airline, which has few international flights, was thrust into the global spotlight following the plane crash in January.

Starting with just one aircraft in 2003, Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air has become Indonesia’s third-largest airline group, aided by its strategy of acquiring old planes at cheap prices and serving routes neglected by competitors.

Older jets can be operated just as safely as newer ones if maintained properly, although the cost of doing so is higher. The planes are also less fuel-efficient which means their operating costs are higher.

Source: Reuters