Lion Air JT610 cockpit voice recorder recovered

The missing Cockpit Voice Recorder of crashed Lion Air Flight JT610 has successfully been recovered by the Indonesian Navy, allowing for desperation to reside and in-depth investigations to be commenced as to what brought down the two-month-old Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Located 38 meters below the surface under mud, the missing blackbox recorder was found at 9:10 on the 14th of January after the Navy detected extremely weak signals coming from a particular area near the crash site.

The crash was the deadliest of 2018, killing 189 people. It was also the first crash for the Boeing 737 MAX, which has ultimately led to a multi-billion dollar feud with Lion Air, distraught families and Boeing. The airline stated to media in December that it is willing to cancel 190 Boeing aircraft worth $22 billion if the manufacturer did not act accordingly.

Investigators have already started the transfer of data from the recorder to appropriate reading devices. This information will provide the investigators with a first-person perspective of what happened in the cockpit before the aircraft struck the water.

The plan is to complete the transfer locally, however any issues that arrive will immediately see the box sent to its manufacturer. Investigators expect the transfer will take five days if all goes to plan.

Preliminary reports already outline points about Lion Air’s maintenance and training as well as Boeing’s anti-stall system which has sparked controversy from multiple airlines about the lack of mention in any aircraft manual. 

Considering the impact and being submerged eight meters under the seafloor, the CVR looks in excellent condition from the outside, with what seems to be only exterior damage and no major dents or twists. The following images sourced from Reuters show the CVR being held by authorities involved:

Boeing will continue to work with Lion Air to determine the cause of the crash and implement any prevention measures to their aircraft based on what’s found. Although families have filed lawsuits against Boeing, it’s important to stress that until an investigation is complete, there’s no immediate subject to blame.

The preliminary report, which is based off initial findings, is likely to receive large findings to complement anything identified with the pilots flying at the time.