Indonesia downloads data from flight recorder of crashed Sriwijaya jet

Indonesian investigators have successfully downloaded information from the flight data recorder (FDR) of the Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the sea last week, the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) said in a statement on Friday.

The recorder “has 330 parameters and all are in good conditions,” the statement said, referring to the available data.

Parameters is a reference to the amount of data recorded from various aircraft systems including the flight path, speed, engine power and flaps configurations.

Flight SJ 182 crashed into the Java Sea minutes after take-off from Jakarta with 62 people on board on January 9, destroying the 26-year-old Boeing Co 737-500.

KNKT said the FDR data confirmed that both of the plane’s engines had been operating when the plane hit the water, as it had earlier stated based on the wreckage.

The maritime search for the plane’s other “black box”, the cockpit voice recorder, continued on Friday.

KNKT plans to issue a preliminary report within 30 days of the crash in line with international standards, the agency’s head said.

The Sriwijaya crash is the biggest airline disaster in Indonesia since October 2018, when 189 people were killed onboard a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX that plunged into the Java Sea soon after take-off.