SilkAir's cockpit voice recorder found

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)