Red tape, funding problems hamper Lion Air black box search

Bureaucratic wrangling and funding problems have hampered the search for the cockpit voice recorder of a crashed Lion Air jet, prompting investigators to turn to the airline to foot the bill in a rare test of global norms on the probe’s independence. Weeks of delays in the search for the second ‘black box’ may complicate the task of explaining how 189 people died when the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29. Indonesian investigators said budgetary constraints and the need for approvals had limited efforts to raise the main wreckage and find the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), thought to hold vital clues to Indonesia’s second-worst air disaster. “We don’t have further funds to rent the ship,” a source at Indonesia’s transport safety committee (KNKT) said, in reference to specialized equipment needed for the search. “There is no emergency fund for us, because there is no legal basis,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “We have already asked the coordinating minister for the economy, but there is no regulation and it would need to be discussed by the parliament,” the source added. The clock is ticking in the hunt for acoustic pings coming from the L3 Technologies Inc cockpit voice recorder fitted to the jet. It has a 90-day beacon, according to an online brochure from the manufacturer. Safety experts say it is unusual for one of the parties to help fund an investigation. Under UN rules, such probes must be conducted independently to maintain trust in any recommendations made to prevent future accidents.<br/>