Jakarta: Indonesian divers appear to have found one of two black box flight recorders which could hold the key to revealing what happened when Lion Air flight JT610 crashed into the ocean on Monday morning.
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Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi confirmed on Thursday the box had been found and that the contents of it would be kept confidential while the National Transport Safety Commission (NTSC) investigated the crash.
The two most likely reasons for the crash were “human error or the plane itself”, Mr Budi said.
Indonesian authorities have indicated they believe the flight data recorder - not the cockpit voice recorder - is the item that was found by navy divers.
Mr Budi also vowed that Indonesia would intensify all aeroplane safety checks and pushed back against the Australian government's decision to ban civil servants and contractors from Lion Air flights, and those of its subsidiaries.
“We will review all flight regulations. For all airlines. Likely we will tighten up the regulations,” Mr Budi said.
"It is up to other countries to determine that ... [but] Indonesia is a country with not just some random safety qualifications, we receive qualification from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and EU (European Union) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation)."
"So, if I am not mistaken, only the Australian Ministry of Trade issued the ban. We need to correct that, we are confident we are not just randomly [safety] qualified.
Extra inspections had been carried out on the remaining 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes being operated in Indonesia by Lion and Garuda and they had been given the OK to fly, Mr Budi said, while flight crews for the planes had also been assessed.
About 40 per cent of Lion flights will now be subjected to random safety checks, while about 15 per cent of other airlines’ flight will be examined.
The black box was found on the sea floor at about 10am local time (2pm AEDT), at a depth of about 30 metres.
Navy diver First Sergeant Hendra told Detik.com the underwater currents were quite strong during the operation and that the searchers had only been able to find small pieces of debris on the ocean floor.
"We narrowed [the search] area then at the site where devices [remotely operated vehicles] showed sensitive [signals] we dug and it turned out we found the black box,” he said.
The discovery of the so-called black box will form a crucial piece of the investigation into why the Lion Air flight crashed.
Black boxes are mandatory on all aircraft and record both flight data from the plane and audio in aeroplane cockpits.
Taken together, the information will help explain what happened to JT610.
Indonesian TV stations on Thursday showed images of the device which was transferred from an inflatable vessel to a ship in a large white container.
Two navy divers described finding the device and bringing it to the surface. One said the fuselage of the plane had also been seen.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane killed all 189 people on board when it crashed, and there are growing questions being asked about Lion Air's handling of the aircraft, given - according to flight data - it had experienced technical difficulties on the day before the crash.
Also on Thursday, the Indonesian Transport ministry officially asked more members of Lion Air's management to be relieved of duty so they could assist with the investigation. Those stood aside include the director of Maintenance and Engineering, the Quality Control Manager, the Fleet Maintenance Management Manager and the Release Engineer.
With AP
