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| Black Box From Lion Air Crash Is Recovered After ‘Desperate’ Search | Black Box From Lion Air Crash Is Recovered After ‘Desperate’ Search |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| BANGKOK — An Indonesian Navy diving team retrieved one of the flight recorders from Lion Air Flight 610 on Thursday from the depths of the Java Sea, raising hopes that investigators will be able to solve the mystery of what led a brand-new Boeing jet to fall from the sky this week. | BANGKOK — An Indonesian Navy diving team retrieved one of the flight recorders from Lion Air Flight 610 on Thursday from the depths of the Java Sea, raising hopes that investigators will be able to solve the mystery of what led a brand-new Boeing jet to fall from the sky this week. |
| The navy team located the device at a depth of around 30 meters in waters northeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. On Wednesday, search teams had heard pings from a locating beacon attached to the data recorder, but strong ocean currents stopped them from recovering the device. | The navy team located the device at a depth of around 30 meters in waters northeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. On Wednesday, search teams had heard pings from a locating beacon attached to the data recorder, but strong ocean currents stopped them from recovering the device. |
| Speaking from a ship where the device was being transported to Jakarta, the leader of the diving team, Senior Chief Petty Officer Hendra, told reporters that divers had to dig into the seabed to recover it. Although the machine was covered in mud, it was intact. | Speaking from a ship where the device was being transported to Jakarta, the leader of the diving team, Senior Chief Petty Officer Hendra, told reporters that divers had to dig into the seabed to recover it. Although the machine was covered in mud, it was intact. |
| “We were desperate,” said Mr. Hendra, who uses just one name. | “We were desperate,” said Mr. Hendra, who uses just one name. |
| There are two so-called black boxes on each plane, and they are actually bright orange. One records conversations in the cockpit, while the other tracks crucial data, like airspeed, altitude and fuel flow. | There are two so-called black boxes on each plane, and they are actually bright orange. One records conversations in the cockpit, while the other tracks crucial data, like airspeed, altitude and fuel flow. |
| “We can confirm that we found one of the two black boxes,” said Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of the National Transportation Safety Committee, which is leading the crash investigation. | “We can confirm that we found one of the two black boxes,” said Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of the National Transportation Safety Committee, which is leading the crash investigation. |
| The Indonesian Navy initially said that the device that was discovered was the flight data recorder. But Thursday evening, Ony Soerjo Wibowo, an investigator for the transportation safety committee, said that it was not yet clear which black box it was. | The Indonesian Navy initially said that the device that was discovered was the flight data recorder. But Thursday evening, Ony Soerjo Wibowo, an investigator for the transportation safety committee, said that it was not yet clear which black box it was. |
| The recorder had been propelled with such force that it had ruptured from its metal casing, Mr. Ony said, adding, “The energy was enormous.” | The recorder had been propelled with such force that it had ruptured from its metal casing, Mr. Ony said, adding, “The energy was enormous.” |
| Without the flight recorders, investigators despaired of figuring out what caused Lion Air Flight 610, bound from Jakarta to the small city of Pangkal Pinang on Monday morning with 189 people on board, to crash into the Java Sea. The weather en route was fine, and the plane had only begun flying in August for Lion Air, a low-cost carrier with a history of safety issues. | Without the flight recorders, investigators despaired of figuring out what caused Lion Air Flight 610, bound from Jakarta to the small city of Pangkal Pinang on Monday morning with 189 people on board, to crash into the Java Sea. The weather en route was fine, and the plane had only begun flying in August for Lion Air, a low-cost carrier with a history of safety issues. |
| Speculation about what caused the crash has centered on possible problems with the plane’s transmission of airspeed data. The day before the crash, the same plane had experienced unreliable airspeed readings, which could have been the result of a malfunction of instruments that measure data needed to fly the plane. | Speculation about what caused the crash has centered on possible problems with the plane’s transmission of airspeed data. The day before the crash, the same plane had experienced unreliable airspeed readings, which could have been the result of a malfunction of instruments that measure data needed to fly the plane. |
| Such an information glitch does not necessarily doom a plane, but it can catalyze a deadly sequence of events. That is what is believed to have happened when Air France Flight 447 plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 after a coating of ice addled readings from its pitot tubes, the external probes affixed to airplanes to monitor airspeed data. | Such an information glitch does not necessarily doom a plane, but it can catalyze a deadly sequence of events. That is what is believed to have happened when Air France Flight 447 plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 after a coating of ice addled readings from its pitot tubes, the external probes affixed to airplanes to monitor airspeed data. |
| Lion Air, which is part of a company that controls the majority of Indonesia’s domestic aviation market, was told on Wednesday by the Transportation Ministry to suspend its technical director and the ground crew that serviced the plane in the hours before the plane’s takeoff on Monday. | Lion Air, which is part of a company that controls the majority of Indonesia’s domestic aviation market, was told on Wednesday by the Transportation Ministry to suspend its technical director and the ground crew that serviced the plane in the hours before the plane’s takeoff on Monday. |
| Investigators want to know whether the problem with inaccurate airspeed readings that occurred on Sunday’s flight was truly resolved, as maintenance logs seen by aviation experts indicate. | Investigators want to know whether the problem with inaccurate airspeed readings that occurred on Sunday’s flight was truly resolved, as maintenance logs seen by aviation experts indicate. |
| Representatives from Boeing are scheduled to meet with Transportation Ministry officials on Thursday. The plane, a 737 Max 8, is one of the most advanced and newest aircraft on offer. While there is no indication that there is a systemic flaw with the plane model, Indonesia ordered an inspection of all Max 8 jets operated by domestic carriers. | Representatives from Boeing are scheduled to meet with Transportation Ministry officials on Thursday. The plane, a 737 Max 8, is one of the most advanced and newest aircraft on offer. While there is no indication that there is a systemic flaw with the plane model, Indonesia ordered an inspection of all Max 8 jets operated by domestic carriers. |
| Lion Air has suffered at least 15 major problems since it began operations in 2000, ranging from fatal crashes to airplane collisions. But the airline has expanded quickly, in part because of the urgent need for air travel in an island nation spread out across the Equator. | Lion Air has suffered at least 15 major problems since it began operations in 2000, ranging from fatal crashes to airplane collisions. But the airline has expanded quickly, in part because of the urgent need for air travel in an island nation spread out across the Equator. |
| For years, Indonesia’s aviation record was so poor that Western nations blacklisted the country’s carriers. But both the United States and European Union have since lifted their bans on Indonesian airlines. | For years, Indonesia’s aviation record was so poor that Western nations blacklisted the country’s carriers. But both the United States and European Union have since lifted their bans on Indonesian airlines. |
| On Thursday, the transportation minister, Budi Karya Sumadi, said that the licenses of four Lion Air personnel had been suspended, including those of the company’s director of maintenance and engineering and the fleet maintenance manager. A day earlier, Mr. Budi said that the government was evaluating the safety systems of low-cost carriers in Indonesia. | |
| “Low-cost carriers are a necessity,” he said. “It’s not that low-cost carriers are in the wrong, it’s that we want to increase their safety.” | “Low-cost carriers are a necessity,” he said. “It’s not that low-cost carriers are in the wrong, it’s that we want to increase their safety.” |