UPDATE 3 - Indonesia: Plane's black box might be retrieved tonight

UPDATED WITH POSSIBLE BLACK BOX RETRIEVAL; NEW HEADLINE, DECK

By Dandy Koswaraputra

JAKARTA (AA) – The black box from an Indonesian passenger plane which went down with 62 people on board Saturday may be retrieved from underwater as early as tonight, officials said.

The success of the operations depends on retrieval before it gets too dark, Rasman MS, the operations director of the search and rescue agency Basarnas, told a press conference in the capital Jakarta on Sunday.

Black box signals from the Sriwijaya Air flight were detected earlier today, said Marshal Hadi Tjahjono, the country’s military chief, adding that retrieving the box would help determine the cause of the crash.

The Boeing 737-500 crash site was also found, along with human remains, belongings, and life vests in the Thousand Islands area between the isles of Lancang and Laki.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is reportedly closely monitoring the search and rescue operations and pressing officials to get results.

The domestic flight departed from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport bound for the city of Pontianak in West Borneo when it lost contact within minutes after taking off. It carried 50 passengers, including 10 children, and 12 crew members.