Lion Air crash: Sonar detects black box 'pings' as investigation into plane disaster continues

Investigators detect 'pings' from the black box flight recorder of crashed Lion Air Flight 610

Investigators searching for the remains of Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Jakarta on 29 October, say they have detected 'pings' from the aircraft's black box flight recorder.

Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee, told Associated Press reporters that they know the pings detected are definitely from the recorder because of their regularity. Locating the recorder, which records audio from the cockpit as well as flight instrument readings, will be vital in discovering the reason why the plane went down so soon after takeoff. The jet, a Boeing 737 Max 8, was only two months old.

Search and rescue teams have so far retrieved small pieces of debris and the remains of some of the 189 passengers and crew on board at the time of the crash, but are still trying to locate the majority of the wreckage. Indonesian navy officer Haris Djoko Nugroho told the Associated Press that sonar had detected a 22-metre long piece of debris on the seabed at 32 metres, which could be a part of the plane's fuselage. Divers will now be sent to investigate.

Indonesia’s Transport Ministry has ordered an inspection of all Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes operated by Lion Air and the Indonesian national carrier Garuda. Boeing released a statement saying that the company is "providing technical assistance at the request and under the direction of government authorities investigating the accident". Experts from Boeing are expected to arrive in Indonesia today.

Flight-tracking data shows that the plane began flying erratically just two minutes into the flight, which took off at 6.20am local time on Monday. The pilots asked to turn back shortly afterwards, before losing contact with air traffic control, a spokesman for Indonesia’s air navigation authorities said.

Indonesia's transport minister, Budi Karya Sumadi, ordered the dismissal of Lion Air's technical director, according to Reuters. The budget airline, which was founded in 1999, has suffered a series of accidents, including the loss of 25 people when an aircraft crashed on landing in 2004.