Swissair Flight’s Cockpit Voice Recorder Found

Divers on Friday recovered the cockpit voice recorder from Swissair Flight 111--an important find that could help investigators learn why the jet plummeted into the Atlantic.

Together with the flight data recorder, which recorded the flight’s mechanical data and was retrieved earlier this week, the device may shed some light on the cause of the wreck that killed all 229 people aboard.

The voice box was found 180 feet below the ocean surface around 6 p.m. Friday near where the data recorder was found five days earlier, transportation officials said.

Although investigators already have a transcript of the conversation between the Swissair pilots and air controllers, the cockpit voice recorder may have picked up additional conversation between the two pilots, or irregular noises in the aircraft.

Stored in a box of fresh water to preserve it, the voice box was sent to Ottawa on Friday for analysis. Its condition was not immediately known, transportation board officials said.

Investigators have said the full transcripts of the tape will not be released to protect the privacy of the pilots.

Divers had been searching simultaneously for the box and for remains of victims of the Geneva-bound MD-11 when the discovery was made.

Late Thursday, divers recovered remains of passengers from the ocean floor. The 22 divers, who can spend just 30 minutes combing the Atlantic floor at any one time, carried the remains 180 feet to the surface in bags.

It was the first time remains had been recovered from the ocean floor. Until then, body parts had been found only floating on the surface of the Atlantic or washed up on the shore.

Out of respect for the families of the victims, authorities would not say how many passengers may have been represented among the recovered remains. Rick Town, commander of the Canadian navy supply ship Preserver, said that even a guess was impossible.

So far, only four victims have been identified out of the remains that have been recovered. The cause of the crash has not been determined.

Flight 111, which originated in New York, lost contact with air controllers six minutes before it crashed into the Atlantic off Nova Scotia on Sept. 2.

Divers said they had been focusing their search on the victims, although the voice recorder box was also a top priority.

“People come first,” said Stan Ferguson, superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, just hours before the voice box was found. “To overlook the recovery of human remains is not right.”

Swiss police Friday sent Canadian authorities the results of blood tests taken from the family members of flight victims to help identify remains. The blood tests will help in the construction of DNA profiles.

The police also gathered information relating to victims’ personal belongings, documents and fingerprints.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy ship Grapple, which helped with the undersea recovery of wreckage of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island in 1996, began preparations to lift the mangled jet from the ocean depths, perhaps early next week.

Also Friday, in New York, about 1,000 people gathered in homage to the victims of the crash. The memorial service at Lincoln Center was addressed by representatives of the victims’ families and the Swiss government and by several members of the clergy.