Crashed aircraft's black box found; AI announces compensation

Ramnath Shenoy
Mangalore, May 23 (PTI) Investigators Sunday retrieved the
'Black Box' from the wreckage of the ill-fated Air India
Express 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.
An Indian 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 pilot's 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.
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 five lakh for those below 12 years
and Rs two lakh for those injured.
"This will be over and above the relief of Rs two 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 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. (MORE) PTI RS
MYR


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