DHAKA: Indonesian divers on Sunday found the black box of the AirAsia plane which crashed in the Java Sea a fortnight ago with 162 people aboard.

The transport ministry said, reports The Straits Times.

But they failed to retrieve it because it was stuck under debris from the main body of the plane, it added.

‘The navy divers in Jadayat state boat have succeeded in finding a very important instrument, the black box of AirAsia QZ8501,’ said Tonny Budiono, a senior ministry official, adding that it was at coordinate 03.37.21 South/109.42.42 East at a depth of between 30 to 32 metres.

‘The black box is trapped under parts of fuselage. We will slowly move these obstacles out of the way, but if it does not succeed, we will lift the fuselage parts using a balloon like what we did to the plane’s tail,’ Budiono said, adding that a small buoy marker had been placed at the location to make retrieval on Monday easier.

Strong ping signals were being picked up by three vessels involved in the search in the Java Sea, SB Supriyadi, a director with the National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters.

If weather conditions are conducive, ‘hopefully the vessels will recover the black box tomorrow morning,’ said National Transportation Safety Committee investigator Santoso Sayogo.

‘The coordinates show the bottom of the sea (in that location) is sand so the divers should easily be able to see it.’

BDST: 2126 HRS, JAN 11, 2015