Indonesian investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed in late October 2018.
The recovery of the CVR is expected to offer further insight into what caused the modern jetliner to plunge into the Java Sea shortly after it took off from Jakarta as flight JT610 bound for Pangkal Pinang.
The aircraft, PK-LQP, was carrying 181 passengers, two pilots and five cabin crew. There were no survivors.
Indonesia’s Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) or National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), confirmed the CVR had been recovered on Tuesday.
“The CVR will be processed on KNKT recorder facility including drying, cleaning and data downloading process,” the NTSC said in a statement.
“The CVR data will add the data required for the investigation.”
Konferensi Pers KNKT bersama TNI AL terkait penemuan CVR Pesawat Lion Air PK-LQP pada tanggal 14 Januari 2019 di terminal JICT 2 pic.twitter.com/J5JXiQamGq
— Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) (@KNKT_RI) January 15, 2019
Siaran Pers KNKT tanggal 14 Januari 2019 terkait Perkembangan Investigasi Pesawat Lion Air PK-LQP pic.twitter.com/tL55VuvYzW
— Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) (@KNKT_RI) January 15, 2019
While the flight data recorder was found a matter of days after the accident, it has taken far longer for the search and rescue teams to locate the CVR.
The NTSC said in preliminary report on the accident published in late November the pilots of the Lion Air flight were battling a “flight control problem” before the aircraft crashed.
Further, the investigation found the aircraft had experienced airspeed indicator malfunctions on its last four flights.
In particular, the pilots that operated PK-LQP’s second-to-last flight – from Denpasar to Jakarta on October 28 – experienced conflicting information despite an angle of attack (AOA) sensor being replaced.
ACCIDENT PROMPTED EMERGENCY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE FROM US REGULATOR
In response to the accident, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) on November 7 to operators of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which called on them to address procedures in the event of pilots receiving erroneous angle of attack sensor information.
The AD followed Boeing issuing an operations manual bulletin (OMB) that asked 737 MAX operators to remind pilots of how to handle “erroneous” information from the aircraft’s angle of attack sensors.
Boeing said in a statement on its website it “appreciates the hard work of the investigation team to locate the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of Lion Air Flight 610”.
“Boeing is taking every measure to fully support this investigation,” Boeing said.
“As the investigation continues, Boeing is working closely with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board as a technical advisor to support Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC).”
The investigation has also canvassed the role of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that was introduced on the 737 MAX.
The MCAS helps push the nose to reduce the risk of at the aircraft stalling in response to a high angle of attack (AOA) by tilting the horizontal stabiliser. Pilots can override the system by manually adjusting the trim.
It was added to the 737 MAX’s systems following some design changes from the 737 NG, with the engines a little further forward and the nose gear a little longer on the MAX.
Some airlines and pilots groups have claimed information on the stall recovery system was not included in documentation for the 737 MAX.
However, Boeing has rejected the claims, with chief executive Dennis Muilenburg saying it was included in the flight crew operations manual, according to a memo to staff seen by The Air Current.
AUSTRALIA’S CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY AUTHORITY HAS STEPPED UP INSPECTIONS FOLLOWING LION AIR ACCIDENT
The Lion Air accident has also prompted Australia’s aviation safety regulator to undertake additional checks on Lion Air subsidiaries that currently fly to Australia.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) director of aviation safety and chief executive Shane Carmody told delegates at the Australian Airports Association (AAA) national conference on November 13 inspections of Malaysia-based Malindo Air and Indonesia’s Batik Air – both part of the Lion Air group – have been ramped up following the crash of JT610.
“This week and last week, my staff were at aerodromes and airport in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory conducting active surveillance on Malindo and Batik Air as a consequence of the Lion Air tragedy of a couple of weeks ago,” Carmody said.
“Again, doing ramp checks and focusing our inspection regime on looking to see if something had been missed.”
VIDEO: A look at the recovery of the flight data recorder from The Associated Press YouTube channel.
