Divers Retrieve Black Box from Crashed AirAsia Flight on Bottom of Java Sea, Official Says

UPDATE 10:46 p.m. EST: PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) — Divers retrieved one of two black boxes Monday from the AirAsia plane that plummeted more than two weeks ago into the Java Sea, a major breakthrough in the slow-moving hunt to recover bodies and wreckage.

The flight data recorder was found under part of the plane's wing and brought to the surface early in the morning, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, head of the national search and rescue agency.

Searchers will continue to scour the seabed to try to locate the other black box, the cockpit voice recorder. They are vital to understanding what brought Flight 8501 down on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board.

Divers began zeroing in on the site a day earlier after three Indonesian ships picked up intense pings from the area, but they were unable to see it due to strong currents and poor visibility, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operation coordinator at the national search and rescue agency.

He earlier said the black box was lodged in debris at a depth of about 100 feet, but Soelistyo did not provide additional details on the discovery.

The flight data recorder will be taken to Jakarta, the capital, for analysis. It could take up to two weeks to download its recorded data, said Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at the National Committee for Safety Transportation.

Officials recovered the aircraft's tail on Saturday, the first major wreckage excavated from the crash site. They were hopeful the black boxes were still inside, but learned they had detached when the plane crashed into the sea.

Search efforts have been consistently hampered by big waves and powerful currents created by the region's rainy season. Silt and sand, along with river runoff, have created blinding conditions for divers.

So far only 48 bodies have been recovered. Many believe most of the corpses are likely still inside the main cabin, which has yet to be located.

Three more bodies were identified Sunday, including Park Seongbeom, 37, and his wife, Lee Kyung Hwa, 34, from South Korea, said Budiyono, who heads East Java's Disaster Victim Identification unit and, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

He said they were discovered Friday on the seabed, still strapped to their seats. Their baby has not yet been found, but the infant's carrier was still attached to the man.

The last contact the pilots had with air traffic control, about halfway into their two-hour journey from Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, to Singapore, indicated they were entering stormy weather. They asked to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid threatening clouds, but were denied permission because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the plane dropped off the radar. No distress signal was sent.

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UPDATE 10:07 p.m. EST: PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (TheBlaze/AP) — An official said divers have retrieved one of the black boxes from the AirAsia jet that crashed over two weeks ago into the Java Sea, a major breakthrough in the slow-moving hunt.

Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, said the flight data recorder was brought to the surface by four divers early Monday morning.

The search continues for the cockpit voice recorder, he said.

Divers began to zero in on the site a day earlier after picking up intense pings from its beacons, but they were unable to get a visual on it due to strong currents and poor visibility.

Parts of AirAsia Flight 8501 is seen on the deck of rescue ship Crest Onyx at Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. (Image soure: AP/Achmad Ibrahim)

The cockpit voice and flight data recorders are vital to understanding what brought Flight 8501 down on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board.

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Original story below

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (TheBlaze/AP) — Divers have retrieved one black box from the crashed AirAsia flight on the bottom of the Java Sea, an official said.

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia -- Official: Divers retrieve 1 black box from crashed @AirAsia flight on bottom of Java Sea. pic.twitter.com/OTe2p9hZ3M

— WSVN-TV (@wsvn) January 12, 2015

This is breaking news; updates will be added.