Black box still undiscovered

MEDAN, North Sumatra: More than a week after the Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 B4 crash at Buah Nabar village, 40 kilometer south of here, workers have yet to find the aircraft's black box, which contains data needed to establish the tragedy's cause.

Antara quoted Lt. Col. Benjamin S. Daniel, an Indonesian Air Force officer coordinating the search and rescue operations being conducted by the military, transportation ministry and local community, as saying that efforts to locate the box continued until 6 p.m. local time Saturday.

Rainfall has made the terrain wet and slippery, compounding the search and rescue operations. Assisted by locals, search and rescue officers have been combing the deep, narrow valley area into which the Garuda Airbus crashed, killing all 222 passengers and its 12-member crew.

Daniel said heavy equipment has been deployed to lift several pieces of the wing section and fuselage in the hope of finding the black box.

On Sept. 26, Flight GA-152 from Jakarta, piloted by Captain Rachmo Wiyogo, plunged into a smog-shrouded ravine only minutes before it was scheduled to land at Medan's Polonia airport. (swe)