AirAsia QZ 8501 Cockpit Voice Recorder (Black Box 2) Found; Search For Remains A High Priority

Seventeen days after the AirAsia QZ 8501 crashed into the Java Sea, Indonesia's search and rescue team found the cockpit voice recorder Tuesday morning. The first Black Box was found a day earlier.

The two recorders contain information about how and why the AirAsia QZ 8501 crashed. Analysis of the black boxes will be done in Indonesia with the help of international experts.

The cockpit voice recorder was found 20 meters away from the flight data recorder. A preliminary report of the analysis would be complete in 6 months and a complete report in a year.

Meanwhile, National Search And Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said that retrieving the remains of passengers would be a high priority. Searching for bodies underwater would be more challenging in harsh weather according to Soelistyo, but he added that all ships "will be deployed with the main task of searching for bodies that are still or suspected to still be trapped underwater"        

Operations co-coordinator for Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Supriyadi said an initial analysis reveals that the AirAsia QZ 8501 may have exploded after landing in the Java Sea. The AFP news agency quoted Supriyadi saying, "The cabin was pressurized and before the pressure of the cabin could be adjusted, it went down - boom. That explosion was heard in the area."

At first, local fisherman offered a lead in the search since they had seen a white ball in the sky accompanied by a loud sound. This information assisted the search and rescue team in finding the location where the plane crashed.

Along with the black boxes, the fuselage of the AirAsia 8501 jet may also have been found, said reports. One Indonesian official said more information are being pieced together to solve the mystery behind the downing of AirAsia QZ 8501.