REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The joint search and rescue (SAR) agency has successfully recovered the flight data recorder (FDR) of AirAsia QZ8501 flight in Karimata Strait of South Kalimantan Province.

"I conclude that the flight data recorder has been found. The team is still searching for the voice cockpit recorder," Chief of the National SAR Agency Bambang Soelistyo stated here on Monday morning.

According to Soelistyo, the FDR was retrieved at 7:11 a.m. local time by the Indonesian Military's diving team comprising Captain Saiful, Second Lieutenant Assistant Bambang, Second Sergeant Rajab, and Second Corporal Edi Sutanto.

The part number of the FDR is PN-2100-4043-02 and the serial number is SN-000556583.

Soelistyo said the team has successfully conducted the operation based on the SAR command's stages.

"This object (FDR) is part of the missing black box of QZ8501," Soelistyo revealed.

An aircraft is equipped with orange-colored boxes that contain the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder along with the battery.

The flight data recorder is a device that records the flight conditions such as the air speed, position, and altitude of the aircraft. The cockpit voice recorder is a device that records radio transmissions, in-cockpit discussions, and the engine condition.

AirAsia Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people on board, had gone missing on Sunday morning (Dec. 28) after losing contact with air traffic control on its way from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore.

Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 lost contact after the pilot requested to ascend to 38 thousand feet from 32 thousand feet to avoid turbulent weather over the sea area between Bangka Belitung and West Kalimantan.

The aircraft was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members. It took off from the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 5:36 a.m. local time and lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17 a.m. local time.

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