The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from a crashed Sriwijaya Air jet has been downloaded successfully and includes the last minutes of the flight that ended with 62 people dead, an official at Indonesia's air accident investigator says.
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The contents of the recording from the 26-year old Boeing 737-500 that crashed shortly after take-off on January 9 cannot be disclosed publicly at this stage, Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said.
"(The data is) good," he said. "We have downloaded it."
The CVR was recovered in late March after a near three-month search of the Java Sea. It was found in mud sucked up by a dredging ship and was dried out and cleaned.
It contains four channels of audio, including recordings of the captain and first officer, Nurcahyo said.
"Each (channel) has the last two hours, including the record of the flight that crashed," he said.
The channels will need to be synchronised with each other as well as radio communications and the flight data recorder (FDR) for analysis to help determine the cause of the crash.
A preliminary report by KNKT released in February said the plane had an imbalance in engine thrust that eventually led it into a sharp roll and then a final dive into the sea. The report included information from the FDR.
Under international standards, the final report is due within a year of the crash.
Australian Associated Press
