Search personnel in Indonesia have retrieved both flight recorders from the ATR 42-500 which crashed in South Sulawesi.
The Indonesia Air Transport turboprop struck a ridge in mountainous terrain while conducting a service between Yogyakarta and Makassar on 17 January.
Wreckage was discovered around 15nm northeast of Makassar airport, at an altitude of 1,390m.
Indonesian search and rescue agency Basarnas says a joint recovery team located both the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorder from the fuselage wreckage.
Basarnas says the finding was made on 21 January, five days after the accident.
“This discovery is an important step in the aircraft accident investigation process,” says search and rescue mission co-ordinator Muhammad Arif Anwar.
He adds that the team is focusing on the retrieval of casualties and securing “important” components at the scene.
Arif Anwar says the recorders will be secured and handed over to the national investigation authority KNKT.
Retrieving victims of the accident in the vicinity of Bulusaraung, in the Maros-Pankep region, has involved “high-risk technical operation” in steep terrain, says Basarnas. The effort has been hampered by heavy rain, fog, and low temperatures.
