AI plane crash: Black box recovered

Mangalore: Investigators Sunday retrieved the 'black box' from the wreckage of the ill-fated Air India Express flight, which is expected to throw light on what went wrong in Saturday's crash that left 158 people dead.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU), which record cockpit conversation and all technical details, have been traced from the debris of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which overshot the runway and burst into flames after plunging into a ravine.

The throttle in the cockpit, which was extricated from the debris, was found in a forward position suggesting that the pilot may have attempted a final thrust to take-off seconds before the crash.

A Civil Aviation Ministry statement in Delhi said that the CVR was affected by fire but was expected to yield the desired information.

While the CVR captures radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilots' voices and engine noises, the DFDAU records short-duration flight parameters.

However, search for the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) continues, the statement said. Airline officials had earlier claimed that this too had been recovered.

The DFDR records actual flight conditions, including altitude, airspeed, heading, vertical acceleration and aircraft pitch.

The instruments will be brought to Delhi tomorrow to be examined by Air Safety Directorate of the DGCA to ascertain the causes for the crash, official sources said.

Interim compensation

In Mangalore, Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav announced an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the victims, above 12 years of age, Rs 5 lakh for those below 12 years and Rs 2 lakh for those injured.

"This will be over and above the relief of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each victim announced by the prime minister," he told reporters here.

He said while 128 bodies have been identified and handed over to the families, 12 were yet to be identified. Post mortem was being carried out on 18 bodies.

Teams, probing the worst air tragedy in the country in a decade, continued sifting through the wreckage to find all material required for the investigation being carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Experts of the US Federal Aviation Authority, Boeing and air safety firm Kenyon will be assisting in deciphering the black box and the CVR.

A forensic team from Hyderabad carried out DNA tests on the bodies that have been charred beyond recognition.

158 people, including six crew, were killed in India's worst air disaster in a decade when Air India's budget carrier's flight IX-812 from Dubai crashed at the Bajpe airport yesterday morning after overshooting the 8,000 feet runway. Eight persons had a miraculous escape.
Human error?

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said a human error factor could not be ruled out but made it clear that the report of the DGCA inquiry should be awaited before coming to any conclusion.

"You cannot rule out a human error factor. Certainly all parameters looked normal for a normal touchdown," he told a news channel.

Patel also said he had spoken to the DGCA to go into issues relating to small and difficult airports.

An official spokesperson said the analysis of the CVR and other instruments of the aircraft would take about a fortnight. The analysis of huge amounts of records emanating from the CVR, DFDAU or DFDR would take a couple of weeks.

The DGCA has appointed its Director, Air Safety, Bir Singh Rai as the Inspector of Accidents to carry out the enquiry assisted by other experts.

Meanwhile, the tapes retrieved from the Air Traffic Control tower at Bajpe airport have been replayed and a detailed analysis was being carried out, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.