Three days after Lion Air JT-610 crashed into the ocean, Indonesian Navy diver Sertu Hendra found the plane’s black box off the coast of Tanjung Karawang, Central Java, at around 10 AM on Thursday, November 1.
The orange-colored black box was found at a depth of 30 meters and tracked by a search and rescue team aboard the KR Baruna Jaya, which had been conducting rescue operations off the coast of the Java Sea over the last three days.
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The blackbox was located relatively quickly due to the shallow waters off the coast of the Java Sea. The blackbox‘s distinctive signal consisting of pings – launched at intervals of 0.9 seconds at a frequency of 37.5 khz – was detected by a remotely operated search vehicle since Wednesday.
National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) head Soerjanto Tjahjono earlier said that the black box holds the key to investigations regarding the cause of the crash. Investigators speculate that the plane experienced engine malfunctions due to a request to return to base two minutes before losing contact, but cannot confirm the exact cause until further examinations of recorded content.
Lion Air flight JT-610 was carrying 181 passengers along with 8 cabin crew. There were no survivors. The government said it has transported 48 body bags to Polri Hospital for identification, most of which contain severed body parts.
