Black box recovered: Mangalore crash

After 72 hours of the Air India Express Boeing 737-800 crash in Mangalore that claimed 158 lives, the Digital Flight Data Recorder or the "Black Box" has been the found on Tuesday.

"We have recovered the Digital Flight Data Recorder, the main body is intact," said a DGCA official.

The black box can give important information about what could have caused the plane to crash as it records all the control settings and flight parameters including velocity and altitude. The flight data recorder records all the control settings.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had late on Sunday began investigating the crash of the Air India Express Boeing 737-800 (VT-AXV) after the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and a part of theblack box containing the digital flight data acquisition unit (DFDAU) were handed over to it by the search party.

"The aircraft's CVR has been recovered. Though affected by fire, it is expected to yield the desired information," the regulator said in a statement here.

The DGCA had appointed Air Safety director Bir Singh Rai as an inspector of accidents to assist the investigation team and experts.

"Analysis of CVR and flight data will be conducted in the next fortnight. Similarly, analysis of records pertaining to the crash will take a couple of weeks," a probe official told IANS, citing the statement.

The probe team inspected the aircraft wreckage at the crash site, runway and adjoining area of the Bajpe airport, about 20 km from this coastal city.

For ascertaining the causes behind the air mishap, which claimed 158 lives, the investigation team had formed four groups -- engineering and wreckage group, operations group, air traffic control group and aerodrome group.

WHAT IS A BLACK BOX

The flight data recorder records all the control settings (left rudder, gear down, flaps, etc.) and flight parameters (speed, altitude, attitude, etc.)"

Actually painted bright orange to make it more visible in an aircraft's wreckage, the black box is a tough metal-and-plastic case containing two recorders. Installed in the rear of the aircraft-the area most likely to survive a crash-the case has two shells of stainless steel with a heat-protective material between the shells.

The case must be able to withstand a temperature of 2,000°F (1,100°C) for 30 minutes. Inside it, mounted in a shockproof base, is the aircraft'sflight data and cockpit voice recorders.

The flight data recorder provides information about airspeed, direction, altitude, acceleration, engine thrust, and rudder and spoiler positions from sensors that are located around the aircraft.

The data is recorded as electronic pulses on stainless steel tape, which is about as thick as aluminum foil. When the tape is played back, it generates a computer printout. The cockpit voice recorder records the previous 30 minutes of the flight crew's conversation and radio transmission on a continuous tape loop.

Source:http://ibnlive.in.com