a day ago
Black Box Of Air India Plane Recovered From The Crash Site In Ahmedabad
New Delhi:
The black box of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed immediately after take-off in Ahmedabad yesterday has been found.
The hardy device which records vital data in an aircraft was found on the roof of the doctors' hostel that was hit by the aircraft.
A large team of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) assisted by 40 personnel from the Gujarat government found the digital flight data recorder (DFDR), or black box.
The black box will play a vital role in unravelling the cause that led to one of the deadliest plane crashes in India. Though called a black box, it is typically a bright orange device for easy visibility amid debris and underwater.
The black box contains crucial information such as flight speed, altitude, engine performance, and cockpit audio, including communications between the pilots and air traffic control. It is built to withstand extreme temperatures, water, and severe impact, ensuring the survival of key data even in catastrophic conditions.
Constructed from highly durable materials like steel and titanium, the device has two main components: the DFDR and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). The DFDR logs technical flight parameters, while the CVR captures audio from the cockpit, including pilot discussions and radio exchanges with air traffic control.
The Ahmedabad-London flight of the Tata-owned airline carried 242 passengers; only one passenger, an Indian-origin British national, survived.
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrashekhar said investigative teams from India, the US and the UK have arrived at the crash site in the last 24 hours.
"Trained investigators will help us understand why the routine flight turned into calamity," he said.
This particular Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was built 12 years ago.
A video captured by a CCTV camera in Ahmedabad airport showed the Air India plane gaining speed on the runway before taking off, and to the naked eye everything seemed fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Seconds later, the Dreamliner - one of the most reliable passenger aircraft in the world - took off. It was uneventful until then.
The next few seconds, however, indicated the plane could be in trouble as it did not gain the altitude usually expected of a passenger aircraft of this size and type. It flew level for a few more seconds before losing altitude. By then the visuals said it loud and clear - the flight was not going to make it.
The aircraft slammed into a doctors' hostel of a medical college, some distance away from the end of the runaway.
