Indonesia plane crash: Victims' families desperately awaiting probe results after black box retrieved

Families, friends and relatives of the passengers and crew who were aboard the doomed Lion Air flight are desperate for the latest probe results, after one of the black boxes was retrieved on Thursday.

Chief investigator of the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) Marjono Siswosuwarno announced that the flight data recorder (FDR) was recovered, while efforts are underway to find the other black box, the cockpit voice recorder (CDR).

One of the bereaved family members waiting for information is Irdiyanti, who had four family members aboard the plane: her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren. Irdiyanti said she did not get the chance to say goodbye to her family. Now all she wants is for the search and rescue team to retrieve the bodies of her loved ones, so she can give them a proper burial.

"Before this incident, my grandchildren stayed with me for two weeks. The last time I spoke to my daughter was two days before the flight crashed," said Irdiyanti.

Sadly, what began as a rescue effort is now a recovery effort. As of Thursday, 65 bodies of the victims have been found, according to Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas). So far there have been no survivors, only body parts found along with pieces of the plane's wreckage, twisted metal parts, torn clothing, shoes, and wallets.

Indonesian police collected DNA from family members to identify the victims. The search and rescue agency will continue to look for the remaining bodies of the victims. Families and friends like Irdiyanti still have days to wait before their loved ones are returned.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 jet en route to the city of Pangkal Pinang with 189 people on board was reported missing Monday morning and was believed to have crashed 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta international airport. It is believed that all 189 people on board the plane have been killed.