Divers find AirAsia Flight QZ8501 voice recorder in plane wreckage

Officials also told BBC News the Indonesian divers have located the cockpit voice recorder – the second part of the black box – but they haven’t been able to reach it.

The aircraft went missing on December 28 and is thought to be deep in the Java Sea. Dozen of bodies have been recovered, however most of the victims are still believed to be inside the main body of the plane, which has yet to be located.

The flight was travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore with 162 people on board.

All the information and understanding as to what caused the AirAsia flight to crash can be revealed from the flight data recorder (black box).

According to the BBC, Indonesia has said that it will handle retrieving the flight data and cockpit voice recorders in Jakarta, while aviation analysts expect a preliminary report within a month – with a more detailed report within a year.

The head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency Bambang Soelistyo told reporters: "I received information from the National Transport Safety Committee chief that at 07:11 (00:11 GMT), we succeeded in bringing up part of the black box that we call the flight data recorder."

He said the device was found under the wreckage of a wing.

Hours later, other officials said the cockpit voice recorder had also been detected but divers had not yet managed to reach it.