Crashed AirAsia Plane: Divers Find Black Box

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Divers have found at least one of the black boxes from the crashed AirAsia plane that came down in the Java Sea, according to reports.

Salvage experts have so far failed to retrieve it because it is stuck under debris from the main body of the plane, a spokesman for the Indonesian transport ministry told AFP.

AirAsia Flight 8501 came down on route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore a fortnight ago with 162 people on board.

"The navy divers in Jadayat state boat have succeeded in finding a very important instrument, the black box of AirAsia QZ8501," said Tonny Budiono, team coordinator at the Directorate of Sea Transportation.

On Saturday, a section of the plane's tail section was pulled from the sea, raising hopes that the black box would be found soon. Electronic signals, called pings, had also been heard.

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Gallery: AirAsia Jet Tail Pulled From Sea

Search teams have recovered a section of the tail of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 from bottom of the Java Sea. Continue through for more images of the recovery...

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There are normally two in-flight data recorders - one that holds flight data and one that records the voices of those in the cockpit.

Both are usually housed in the tail of an Airbus A320-200.

AP reported that more pings had been heard in two different locations in the preceding 24 hours since the tail fin was removed from the water.

Indroyono Soesilo, coordinating minister for Maritime Affairs, said they were located around 3.5km (2 miles) from where the aircraft's tail was discovered.

"The two are close to each other, just about 20 metres," Mr Soesilo told reporters. "Hopefully, they are the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder."

Mr Budiono said in a statement that the signals were intense in one area, and that he believed the recorders were likely lodged there beneath wreckage.

If divers were unable to free the box without help, all of the debris would be lifted, the statement said.

Sonar detected a large object in the same vicinity as the pings. Officials initially were hopeful it was the main section of the plane's cabin.

But Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said divers had confirmed it was instead a wing and debris from the engine.

AP reported that other officials cautioned it was too soon to know whether the sounds were coming from the black boxes.

Three more bodies were found on Friday on the seabed, still strapped into their seats.

Two of them were South Koreans travelling with a baby. Their baby has not yet been found, but the infant's carrier was still attached to the man when he was discovered.

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