Divers from the Indonesian navy have recovered one of the black boxes - a flight data recorder - of doomed AirAsia flight QZ8501, which can provide the important pieces of the puzzle why the plane crashed into the Java Sea on December 28.

The chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Bambang Soelistyo, said in a media briefing that the black box was fished out of the sea around 7 AM on Monday and divers are still looking for the cockpit voice recorder.

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The flight data recorder can provide crucial information about the ill-fated plane's last minutes before the disaster, while the cockpit voice recorder can play back conversations between air traffic controllers and the pilots.

Aviation experts say it can take several days to a couple of weeks for initial findings to be drawn from data provided by the black box.

China, Singapore, the U.S. and Malaysia have taken part in search and rescue efforts in the past several weeks combing the choppy waters of the Java Sea for bodies, wreckage and the black boxes.

Strong winds and powerful waves slowed down the initial search but better weather conditions in the past couple of days allowed divers to retrieve the plane's tail section and now one of the black boxes.

The rescue team has so far recovered 48 bodies of the 162 crew and passengers on board, 32 of which have been identified.

The crash of the AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore and the government crackdown on airlines that followed has heightened concerns about Indonesia's safety standards the expanding aviation sector.

TagsAirAsia, Flight 8501, black box, Search and recovery, plane crash, Indonesia, Java Sea