SilkAir's cockpit voice recorder found
JAKARTA (JP): Rescuers have found the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), a crucial part of the black box which could help explain the cause of a SilkAir plane crash on Dec. 19 which killed all 104 on board.
"At 4:35 p.m. this afternoon (yesterday), the rescuers found the cockpit voice recorder," the commander of Palembang Air Force Base, Lt. Col. Yanuwardi, told the The Jakarta Post by telephone yesterday.
He said the CVR was found by the Singaporean dredger Moshasi which had been sent to help with search operations last week.
"Up to now, the CVR is still at the location (of the crash)," Yanuwardi said, adding that rescuers will transport the CVR to Palembang, some 60 kilometers upriver from the crash site, today.
The CVR is the second vital device which could shed some light on the cause of the accident. It records radio transmissions and all sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilots' voices and engine noises.
The discovery of the CVR came on the 16th day of an intensive search which has failed to uncover the main fuselage or any intact bodies.
SilkAir flight MI-185 crashed into an estuary in Musi River during a regular flight from Jakarta to Singapore. All 104 passengers and crew on board were killed.
Ground control did not receive any distress calls prior to the accident and the cause of the plane crash remains a mystery.
But witnesses claim the plane explode in midair before plummeting into the river.
SilkAir is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines and the crash was the first in the country's civil aviation history.
Just over a week ago, search teams located the flight data recorder (FDR).
The FDR and the CVR make up what is known as the black box. Both items are essential for a thorough and conclusive investigation.
The FDR arrived in Washington on Tuesday for examination by U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
A navy official in Palembang said the Moshasi dredger will remain in operation until next week, although the joint rescue operation between Indonesia and Singapore will officially end today.
A member of the National Search and Rescue team, Jose Rizal, said that a mass burial of the plane crash victims would likely be held in Taman Bunga, Sukarame, in Palembang. Singaporean authorities have twice inspected the location.
According to Rizal, the team from Singapore led by Yap Kim Wah yesterday went to Taman Bunga and appeared to measure the location for the burial.
Rizal said the burial might be conducted between Thursday and Saturday, pending coordination with the local administration. (10/prb)