Investigators banking on in-flight DVR, CCTVs near accident site in probe in Ahmedabad plane crash
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Police is assisting the multiple investigating agencies, including Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), US teams of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), UK examiners and Boeing, who have visited the crash site to conduct simultaneous probes, with its manpower.
An officer of the Ahmedabad city police told this newspaper, 'We are cooperating as per their request and helping them at the crash site and in logistics as the AAIB is a team of forensic engineers and medical experts…'
A Digital Video Recorder (DVR) or Cabin Video Monitoring System (CVMS) found intact on the crash site is also expected to provide crucial evidence of the Air India plane crash that killed 241 passengers and several people on the ground in Ahmedabad.
The DVR will allow the investigators a full view into what transpired inside the flight cabin in its final moments, seconds after a take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA). 'We are exercising preliminary caution by collecting as much data and evidence… We are checking footage. The investigation into the ground deaths is in the purview of the city police. It will help us in the identification of the bodies of those killed on the ground,' an official said.
Speaking to this newspaper, an official close to the investigation said that the recovery of the DVR is 'significant' as it can lend a primary perspective even as the extraction and analysis of the data from the two black boxes will be a time-consuming process.
The official said, 'It is indeed significant that the DVR has been found intact by the Gujarat Police officials. Since this is the first crash involving a Boeing Dreamliner 787, the extraction of data from the various flight devices will be a first and would also need to be done carefully as there is no precedent… However, if the DVR footage is found intact, which is most likely the case, then it will give a quicker access into the final moments of the aircraft before the crash.'
This would be from the time of taxiing from the tarmac to its take-off and eventual failure to soar that possibly led to the crash within 58 seconds of the aircraft being airborne. 'The 787 uses multiple high-resolution in-cabin video surveillance cameras that are typically placed at the doorway, cabin and cockpit… The exact number of cameras will be known when the DVR can be extracted but the system can have a dozen cameras linked to it. These cameras are powered by external batteries that will continue to record even in case of a power failure in the aircraft or any emergency situation…' he said.
The official said that investigators are hopeful that the footage will help correlate the statement of the lone survivor — British national Viswashkumar Ramesh of Seat 11A, who has said in his account that the flight 'appeared to have come to a standstill mid air, shortly after take-off with green and white cabin lights turned on', right before it 'crashed in full speed'. He said, 'The cause of the crash, however, can only be ascertained after a thorough analysis of the exhaustive data of the DFDR and CVR (the two black boxes) of the aircraft…'
He said that the investigators may seek to meet the lone survivor in order to seek specific information 'once he is closer to recovery'.
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