AirAsia Black Box and Tail Section Recovered; Official Believes Plane Exploded Upon Hitting Water, Killing All 162 People on Board
The important black box flight data recorder was retrieved by Indonesian divers in the Java Sea on Monday, along with the tail section of the plane that disappeared on Dec. 28. A search official said that the plane likely exploded after it hit the water, killing all 162 people on board.
"On initial inspection of the debris and the tail of the plane, we believe that the explosion would have occurred because of the cabin being pressurized, and the inability to adjust the pressure would have caused (a) boom sound," said National Search and Rescue Agency Operations Coordinator Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, according to CBS News.
Flight QZ8501 disappeared from radars on Dec. 28 while flying from Indonesia to Singapore, with debris and bodies being discovered two days later.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
A multi-national search and rescue operation has battled harsh environmental conditions in the mission to find out what happened to the plane, a task that will be made much easier now with the discovery of one of the black boxes.
"At 7:11, we succeeded in lifting the part of the black box known as the flight data recorder," confirmed Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency.
A second black box, containing the cockpit voice recorder, has also been located but divers have not yet been able to get to it, Reuters noted.
"(The cockpit voice recorder) seems to be under a wing, which is quite heavy," Supriyadi revealed. "So we will use air bags to lift it. This will be done tomorrow."
Supriyadi added that significant change in air pressure and the disintegration of the left side of the plane suggests that the aircraft most likely exploded upon hitting the waves.
Fishermen in the sea also reportedly told authorities that they had heard a large explosion at around the time the plane is believed to have crashed.
Some, like Santoso Sayogo, an investigator at the National Transportation Safety Committee, have disputed the theory, however, and said that not enough is known to arrive to any conclusions.
The data from the black box was flown first to Pangkalan Bun in southern Borneo, and then to Jakarta for detailed analysis. It is likely to take over a month to get a full reading of the information.
"The download is easy, probably one day. But the reading is more difficult ... could take two weeks to one month," said NTSC's head investigator, Mardjono Siswosuwarno.
Most of the 162 people on board the plane were Indonesian, and at least 41 were members from a single megachurch from the city of Surabaya.
Church leaders have been attempting to comfort the grieving family members and relatives of the victims, with a Mawar Sharon Christian megachurch service last week gathering 2,500 faithful in prayer.
"Obviously in this situation, for people who believe in God, it is very easy to blame [and ask] why is all this so unfair," said pastor Caleb Natanielliem. "As a pastor, I know that we are a family and we need to stand together."
