A navy minesweeper detected a signal sent out by the black boxes of the crashed TransAsia Airways cargo aircraft near Penghu's West Island, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) announced yesterday.
"The location of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder was 5.9 nautical miles [10.9km] southwest of West Island, 60.5m beneath the sea surface," said Billy Chang (張國政), director of the CAA.
"The minesweeper received the signal at 10:55am. The navy will start the recovery work for the black boxes when the wind and waves become calmer," Chang said.
Meanwhile, rescue teams are still searching for the two pilots, Pan Teh-chung (潘德宗) and Liu Ching-hai (劉清海).
The Ministry of National Defense dispatched 24 ships, 6 aircraft and 1,480 soldiers to join the rescue attempt yesterday.
The French-built ATR-72 plane, with the two pilots on board, crashed into the sea near Penghu early Saturday morning after taking off from Taipei en route to Macau.
There were no other passengers or crew on board.
The rescue operation, though hampered by bad weather, continues around the clock.
"Rescuers have been expanding the search area," said Chang.
Rescuers recovered 66 pieces of the plane and 33 articles belonging to the aircraft yesterday.
"The debris has been sent to the air force base at Makung," Chang said.
According to Chang, the around-the-clock rescue operation will continue for 72 hours from the time of the crash, after which it would be customary to assume there are no more survivors.
The Executive Yuan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) is investigating the cause of the air crash.
Kay Yong (戎凱), managing director of the ASC, said the French manufacturer of the ATR-72 plane had sent four experts to Taiwan to help investigate the cause of the crash.
"The ASC is waiting for further radar data to investigate the cause of the crash," said Yong.
TransAsia Airways held a press conference yesterday to deny the two widespread rumors about the air crash.
The first rumor is that the plane was destabilized by badly secured cargo. The second rumor was that the plane iced up because its de-icer failed.
"Neither of these rumors is true," an airline official said.
Tony Fan (范志強), chairman of TransAsia Airways, went to Penghu yesterday to express gratitude to those involved in the rescue work.
"The priority is to save the two pilots' lives. We will not give up hope," Fan said.
Meanwhile, Chang announced that TransAsia Airways would be banned from operating flights on newly-opened routes for a year because of the air crash.
"This is not a punishment. The CAA made the decision according to its agreement with airlines according to which any airline that suffers a crash will be suspended from operating flights on newly-established routes for a year," said Chang.
TransAsia Airways said it respected the CAA's decision.
From 1971 to this year, four major air crashes have taken place around the Penghu archipelago, killing a total of 265 people.
On May 25 this year, China Airlines flight CI611 also crashed into the sea around Penghu, killing all on board.
Fearing the frequency of air crashes around Penghu might affect its tourism, Penghu County Government yesterday requested the CAA to change international flight routes passing over the islands.
Chang said, however, it was unlikely that the international flight routes will be changed.
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