Divers spot black boxes in AirAsia wreckage hunt

The tail of AirAsia QZ8501 passenger plane is seen on the deck of the Indonesian Search and Rescue (BASARNAS) ship Crest Onyx after it was lifted from the sea bed, south of Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan January 10, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Indonesian divers spotted black boxes in AirAsia wreckage hunt on Sunday,but were unable to retrieve it so far,the Transport Ministry said in a statement on its website.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders, known as black boxes, are crucial to helping determine the cause of the air crash. The devices, which are stored in the rear of the aircraft, can still send signals for two weeks before the battery goes dead.

Flight QZ8501, with 162 people aboard, went down in the Java Sea near the Karimata Strait during its flight from Surabaya to Singapore on Dec. 28.

A multinational search operation was underway to retrieve wreckage and bodies of the victims, joined by ships and planes from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Australia, Russia, South Korea and China.

So far, 48 bodies have been recovered from the sea, with 27 of them having been identified.