Mangalore Crash: AI Aircraft’s Black Box Found
Following three days of intensive search, the missing components of the Black Box of the Air Indian Express plane has been recovered from the crash site, said media reports.
The search teams recovered the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), mounted in the aircraft’s tail, which would provide details regarding aircraft’s acceleration, engine thrust, airspeed, altitude and rudder position – vital factors for the crash investigators, reports said.
Though the DFDR was found damaged on one side, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials said that its ‘main memory’ was intact, said reports.
“Nothing has happened to the main portion where the main memory is located. It is intact,” DGCA officials were quoted as saying a short while after they seized the instrument.
Air India’s General Manager (Flight and Safety) GM Mathew held the Black Box part which was charred in some places aloft and showed it to the media at the site of the wreckage, reports said.
“What was recovered today is the main part (of the Black Box),” Mathew was quoted as saying.
The DFDR logs actual flight conditions, including altitude, airspeed, heading and vertical acceleration.
On Sunday, investigators had retrieved the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU), but the crucial DFDR could not be traced.
(Based on internet reports)
