Indian investigators begin to analyse black box data from fatal Air India crash

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Indian investigators will start analysing the data downloaded from the recovered black boxes of an Air India plane that killed at least 241 people.
Both black boxes — the Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR) — were recovered from the crash site, according to India's Civil Aviation Ministry.
"The analysis of CVR and FDR data is underway," the ministry said in a statement.
"These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences."
The ministry said the black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi, where India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) would work with the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to extract the data.
"The crash protection module from the front black box was safely retrieved," said the ministry, "And ... the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab."
The Air India Flight AI-171 bound for London crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from the Indian city of Ahmedabad on June 12.
According to the NTSB's website, the CVR recorded radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, including the pilots' voices and engine noises.
The FDR, monitored parameters such as altitude, airspeed and heading, the NTSB said.
Both recorders will be valuable tools in the accident investigation process, providing information that may be difficult or impossible to obtain by other means, it said.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy told Reuters she hoped the Indian government would share details from the investigation into the crash in short order.
"For aviation safety and for public safety and public awareness, we hope that they will make their findings public swiftly," she said.
Data from flight tracker, Flightradar24, showed the flight took off at about 13:38 local time.
The flight was tracked to 625 feet, or just over 190 metres, in the air before the signal dropped out.
ABC NEWS Verify can reveal that the video shows the aircraft taking off and flying for approximately 30 seconds before hitting the ground.
Another video posted online shows the crash from a separate angle.
Ron Bartsch, a leading expert in aviation safety, told the ABC that the aircraft's flaps did not appear to be in the right position.
"The fact that the aircraft still appears to be with its gear down and flaps retracted at 600 feet after take-off is not the usual configuration for an aircraft."
The plane made its debut in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014.