Black box still undiscovered

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)