Story highlights Plane's tail lifted to surface but the black boxes were not found

Investigator says location of pings "not very far from the (plane's) tail"

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed December 28 into the Java Sea

(CNN) The tail section of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 was lifted from the Java Sea on Saturday, but the plane's cockpit voice and flight recorders, or "black boxes," were not found.

Indonesian officials said the devices were not with the recovered section.

The plane's black boxes will likely be found in "a few days," the crash's chief investigator said, after searchers were able to hear more pings, even if they haven't yet pinpointed where they came from.

The investigator, Mardjono Siswosuwarno, told CNN that smaller boats picked up several pings emanating near where the commercial jet's tail was found.

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"I think we will be able to find the black boxes in a few days, because the location where pings were detected is not very far from the tail," Siswosuwarno said.

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