Investigators have recovered flight recorder data from the Air India crash earlier this month, the civil aviation ministry has confirmed, marking a key step in the probe.
These combined units record flight data and cockpit audio.
Data recorders track with high precision the position of gear and flap levers, thrust settings, engine performance, fuel flow and even fire handle activation.
“The analysis of CVR and FDR [flight data recorder] data is underway.
Air India Flight 171 was airborne for less than 40 seconds before it crashed into a crowded Ahmedabad neighbourhood, killing all but one of the 242 passengers on board, in one of India’s most puzzling air disasters in recent memory.
A significant step in the investigation has been taken when the civil aviation ministry confirmed that investigators have recovered flight recorder data from the Air India crash earlier this month.
Less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India on June 12, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner headed for London crashed, killing at least 270 people.
Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs)—also known as “black boxes”—were previously recovered by investigators from the Boeing 787 crash site on June 13 and 16, one from the debris and one from a rooftop.
Information obtained from the recorders may not be made public by the federal government for several weeks.
The two sets of recorders are carried by the specific aircraft model to facilitate in-depth analysis. Both flight data and cockpit audio are captured by these combined units.
The position of the gear and flap levers, thrust settings, engine performance, fuel flow, and even the activation of the fire handle are all precisely tracked by data recorders.
The information can be utilized to reconstruct the last moments of the flight and identify the incident’s cause.
Pilot radio calls, individual microphone audio, and background cockpit noise are all recorded by the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) using an area microphone.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) led a team that accessed the recorder’s data on Wednesday, according to the aviation ministry.
“Data from flight data recorders and CVRs is currently being analyzed. The ministry said in a statement that these efforts are intended to improve aviation safety and stop similar incidents in the future by reconstructing the events that led to the accident and identifying contributing factors.
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the US National Transportation Safety Board, expressed her hope that the Indian government will quickly release information from the crash investigation to the Reuters news agency.
“We hope that they will make their findings public swiftly for aviation safety and for public safety and public awareness,” Homendy stated while speaking at an aviation event.
The NTSB team, she said, has been working hard to help India, and “the Indian government and the AAIB have been very cooperative.”. “,”.
Questions have been raised by aviation experts, who have characterized the delay as unusual, regarding India’s decision to download and examine data from the flight recorders almost two weeks after the crash.
Air India Flight 171 was one of the most mysterious air disasters in recent Indian history, killing all but one of the 242 passengers on board after less than 40 seconds in the air before crashing into a crowded Ahmedabad neighborhood.
Minutes after taking off at 13:39 local time, the London-bound Boeing 787, piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar, sent out its final transmission: a mayday call.
