Search intensifies for crashed Indonesian plane's black boxes

Jakarta

The Boeing 737-500 aircraft with 62 people on board plunged into the waters off the coast of Indonesia's capital Jakarta on January 9, Xinhua news agency reported.

Commander of the Search and Rescue Task Force First Admiral Yayan Sofyan said efforts were underway to clear the spots to locate the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR).

"The rupture of the plane made the debris cover the black boxes. We will clear the spots from the debris, then will test the strength of the signals with a ping allocator," the commander said.

"As the debris still disturbs the release of the signals, we will remove it again until the signals become stronger," Sofyan told a local media outlet.

The distance of the two black boxes is between 150 metres and 200 metres, Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency Bagus Puruhito said.

Meanwhile, a total of 74 bags containing human body parts have been retrieved by the divers, Rasman M.S., the agency's operation director, said on Tuesday.

Besides, 24 large parts of the plane wreckage and 16 bags containing small pieces of the plane's body have been lifted from the seafloor, the director said.

A total of 3,600 personnel have been involved in the search mission, as well as 54 ships and 13 planes and helicopters, he said.

The flight SJ-182 operated by the budget airline crashed shortly after taking off from the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta, bound for Pontianak city in West Kalimantan province.