Searchers Hunting for Indonesia Recorder After Finding Its Case

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian divers retrieved the battered casing of the cockpit voice recorder from the Sriwijaya Air jet that plunged into the Java Sea on Jan. 9, but not the crucial memory unit containing its data.

The computer chips that store a recording of pilot communications and ambient sounds in the cockpit broke loose from the so-called black box’s exterior, the Indonesian authorities said Friday.

The Boeing Co. 737-500 dove steeply about four minutes after takeoff, slamming into the sea at an apparent high rate of speed, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.

Underwater locater beacons attached to both crash-proof black boxes became dislodged in the impact. The flight-data recorder was found earlier in the week, but the Navy said it’s still searching for the critical components from the cockpit recorder.

The data recorder, which tracks hundreds of parameters showing how the plane was being operated, has been successfully downloaded. Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee confirmed Friday that the engines on the Jakarta-to-Borneo flight were running when it hit the water, but hasn’t revealed details on what may have triggered the violent dive.

Poor weather and high seas hampered recovery efforts in recent days. Rescue workers have also been bringing up human remains for identification along with parts of the plane.

Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 took off from Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 2:36 p.m. following a nearly hour-long delay due to heavy rain and low clouds around the Indonesian capital.

After reaching about 10,000 feet (3,050 meters), the plane leveled off for around 45 seconds before an air-traffic controller radioed to say it was off course. There was no response.

The jetliner began an abrupt descent -- close to 10,000 feet in 14 seconds. Its last position was recorded at 2:40 p.m. about 19 kilometers from the airport and 7 kilometers north of the shore.