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AirAsia black box found

Indonesian divers have found the black box flight recorder belonging to AirAsia flight QZ8501 which crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people on board two weeks ago.

Unfortunately the black box is stuck under the main wreckage of the plane, which will need to be moved before the recorders can be retrieved and the flight’s final moments known.

• AirAsia plane’s tail recovered from Java Sea
• Divers struggle to reach AirAsia wreckage

“The navy divers in Jadayat state boat have succeeded in finding a very important instrument, the black box of AirAsia QZ8501,” senior ministry official Tonny Budiono said.

Divers will on Monday attempt to move the wreckage, which is 30 metres beneath the surface, to access the black box.

Mr Budiono said recovery crews may use floatation balloons to lift the body of the plane, as was done with the plane’s tail on Sunday.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency said stormy weather was most likely to cause of the crash, but the final moments of the flight from Surabaya to Singapore won’t be known until the recorders are reviewed.

With only 48 bodies recovered so far, National Search and Rescue Agency director S.B. Supriyadi said many bodies were still trapped in the plane’s cabin, making the recovery of the wreckage even more urgent.

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