Navy spokesman Tim Dunne said yesterday divers found the `black box' containing the recorder at 1900 GMT (0030 IST).

Investigators said they hope the voice recorder will shed light on the flight's last six minutes, which is missing from the flight data recorder recovered last week.

The flight data recorder is being studied at a laboratory in Ottawa.At a press conference on Thursday, the chief investigator said that any transcript of talks inside the cockpit would remain secret because such talks are confidential and protected by law.

Critical information about the investigation would be made public, he said.On Tuesday investigators released the complete recording of dialogue between the flight 111 crew and control tower personnel in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax.

They reveal that the pilothad placed an oxygen mask on his face about 15 minutes before the accident -- just after having announced that there was smoke in the airconditioning system.