Villagers assisting recovery efforts for a Russian passenger jet that crashed in Indonesia have found the aircraft's missing flight data recorder. All 45 on board were killed when the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed during a demonstration flight earlier this month.

The cockpit voice recorder was found several days after the plane hit Mount Salak, West Java on May 9. A landslide triggered by the impact had concealed the flight data recorder, but it was uncovered today after recent rains removed some of the soil it was under. "It seems to be intact," said <name>Ketut Purwa</name>, who is leading the recovery. It was sent to Jakarta for examination.

The recorder was found in a ravine 30 metres from the tail, which was also located by villagers. It contains a log of technical data from the 40-minute demonstration, which aimed to attract Indonesian airlines to buy Superjet 100s.

<name>Tatang Kurniadi</name>, head of the National Transportation Safety Committee, explained "The FDR emits a signal for up to a month but only if it's underwater. It doesn't work on land". In addition to the Indonesian investigation, Russian authorities have launched a criminal probe. The dead include eight Russians. <name>Kurniadi</name> also said work to complete an Indonesian translation of the voice recorder transcript is nearing completion.