Hunt for Lion Air jet's black box delayed by bad weather

A renewed search for the cockpit voice recorder of a Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29 has been delayed for two days due to bad weather hampering the arrival of a specialized ship, the airline said. The crash, the world’s first of a Boeing Co 737 MAX jet, killed all 189 people on board and the main wreckage and second ‘black box’ were not recovered in an initial search. Lion Air said that it was funding a 38b rupiah ($2.6m) search effort using the offshore supply ship MPV Everest, which had been expected to arrive in the search area on Monday. Bad weather and heavy rain at the port of Johor Bahru in Malaysia interfered with the equipment and crew mobilization process, delaying the ship’s arrival at the crash site until Wednesday, the airline said late on Sunday. Lion Air’s decision to foot the bill for the search is a rare test of global norms regarding search independence, as such costs are typically paid by governments. A spokesman for the transportation ministry said its obligation was to fund the investigation. The search for the cockpit voice recorder was the airline’s responsibility, he said. Lion Air on Sunday said the search for the cockpit voice recorder was the “duty and responsibility” of Indonesia’s transport safety committee. The airline on Monday issued a revised statement removing that reference. <br/>