Indonesia recovers black box from crashed plane

A black box from the crashed Indonesian passenger jet has been recovered, officials say, a discovery that could offer critical clues to explaining why the plane with 62 people aboard slammed into the sea.

Divers just off the coast of the capital Jakarta haul the jet’s flight data recorder to the surface, as the hunt continues for its cockpit voice recorder.

Indonesian transport minister Budi Karya Sumadi tells a live television briefing that the box had been found — after the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in less than a minute before slamming into the Java Sea Saturday.

Rescue workers inspect recovered debris at the port in Jakarta on January 10, 2021, during the search operation for Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 which crashed after takeoff from Jakarta on January 9. (Dany Krisnadhi / AFP)

An AFP reporter on a navy ship says investigators started picking up strong signals from an area where they were searching, with divers able to retrieve the box in about an hour from the wreckage-littered seabed.

So far authorities have been unable to explain why the 26-year-old plane crashed just four minutes after takeoff.