Indonesian authorities announced having successfully completed the flight data transfer from one of two Flight Data Recorders (FDR) the crashed Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737.
On January 19, 2020, the National Transportation Safety Committee of Indonesia (NTSC) announced that they downloaded data from one of the recovered Flight Data Recorders (also called black boxes). Speaking to local media Nurcahyo Utomo, the Chief of aviation accident investigation sub-committee, outlined that the black box was filled with 370 flight parameters from a 27-hour-long flight recording. The recording consists of 18 flights in total including the catastrophic event.
“From the data we obtained, we recovered a number of data crucial for the investigation,” Utomo told local media.
The flight data, which includes information on the aircraft speed, flying direction, and altitude, should help investigators to examine what exactly happened during the flight 182 and why the Boeing 737 plunged about 10,000 feet in less than a minute before crashing into the Java Sea on January 9, 2021.
In addition, the Indonesian authority also announced that the investigation process is assisted by representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), Boeing, and General Electric.
The NTSC expects to provide a preliminary report of the deadly accident within 30 days of the crash.
Meanwhile, Basarnas, the National Search and Rescue Agency of Indonesia, decided to extend the search operation for wreckage and remains of victims. A huge group of more than 3,000 people, assisted by dozens of boats and helicopters, have participated in the accident recovery process.
Despite that one of two Flight Data Recorders is already in the Indonesian authorities’ hands, a team of divers is still trying to retrieve the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the wreckage-littered seabed.
Earlier on January 15, 2021, investigators told the Associated Press, that according to the “black box” data, the flight crew did not declare an emergency and did not report any technical problems regarding the aircraft before it disappeared from radars. The safety committee also disclosed that both engines of the crashed jet had been operating when the plane hit the sea.