Investigators obtain ATC audio recordings of crashed Lion 737

Investigators from Indonesia's National Transport Safety Committee (NTSC) have obtained audio recordings of a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 that crashed on 29 October from air navigation service provider AirNav Indonesia.

Deputy chief Haryo Satmiko told the media that it was able to obtain audio recordings between the air traffic controller and the Lion pilots, but has yet to locate the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the 737 registered PK-LQP.

Satmiko was also quoted in a Reuters report as saying that the aircraft had technical problems, one of which was unreliable airspeed.

Separately, NTSC investigator Ony Suryo Wibowo was quoted in Indonesian media reports as saying that it had sought information from the pilots that operated a flight that preceded JT610. Prior to JT610, the jet operated flight JT43 between Denpasar and Jakarta on 28 October.

Wibowo stressed that data verification has to be made, after tweets of an aircraft and maintenance log surfaced, purportedly from PK-LQP. The crew for flight JT43 had found an altitude disagreement after take off and a sensing of difference in pressure. It flew the entire flight at 28,000ft.

"We can confirm and verify that the aircraft flew from Denpasar to Jakarta, and landed safely at 20.55 local time [on 28 October]," adds Wibowo.

Meanwhile, national search and rescue agency Basarnas tweeted that as of 21.50 local time on 30 October, 48 body bags, unspecified aircraft debris, and personal belongings have been brought ashore.

While search and recovery efforts remained underway on 31 October, Basarnas is deploying four ships equipped with multibeam echosounders, sonar scans, remotely-operated underwater vehicles, and ping locators on four key segments to locate the wreckage of the Boeing jet. Thirty other ships have also been deployed to assist to cover nine other sectors.

Divers will be deployed after a scan of the seabed has been made, it adds.

Flight JT610 took off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International airport at 06.20 local time for the town of Pangkal Pinang with 189 passengers and crew, before losing contact 13 minutes later. It crashed into the sea, near the town of Karawang, in the province of West Java.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that the aircraft was delivered on 13 August 2018, and bears serial number 43000. It is equipped with 180 seats, and managed by CMIG Leasing.