The bright orange recorder, found after more than two months after the October 29 crash, is a significant breakthrough for investigators trying to piece together the final moments of Flight 610.
Indonesian Navy divers have recovered a voice recorder from doomed Lion Air flight 610 on Monday (January 14), a discovery that could help solve the mystery as to how a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged into the Java Sea last October, killing all 189 people on board.
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR), one of two so-called “black boxes”, was buried under eight metres of mud on the seabed within the current search area of 500 to 1,000 meters (546 to 1,093 yards) from the crash site, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Agung Nugroho told CNN.
The bright orange recorder, found after more than two months after the October 29 crash, is a significant breakthrough for investigators trying to piece together the final moments of Flight 610.
The plane’s flight data recorder was pulled from the seabed on November 1, but the CVR was detached from it.
Indonesia's transport authority KNKT said at a press conference on Monday that it expects to publish a full report of the crash within 12 months.
Leading up to its fatal crash, the plane had faulty airspeed readings during its last four flights. A preliminary report from data retrieved from the flight recorder showed pilots repeatedly fought to override the plane’s automatic safety system, which pulled the plane’s nose down more than two dozen times before the crash.
Audio recordings from the CVR may shed light on what pilots were saying and why the safety feature was not turned off.
A different flight crew had experience the same issue on a flight from Denpasar to Jakarta the previous day, but had turned off the automatic safety feature and taken manual control of the plane.