The second black box of the Air India Boeing 787 passenger plane that crashed Thursday in Ahmedabad, in northwest India, was found yesterday, Sunday, Indian authorities said.
The black box (i.e., the cockpit audio/communication printer) was recovered, Dr. P.K. Mishra, a close associate of federal Prime Minister Narendra Modi, noted in a statement.
The other black box, the QAR (quick access recorder, or flight data recorder), which contains data on all flight parameters such as speed, position, altitude, angle of attack, etc., was recovered on Friday, the day after the crash that killed at least 279 people.
Only one of the occupants, a British national of Indian origin, survived when the aircraft crashed seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad, according to the latest casualty report, made public the day before yesterday, Saturday.
Thirty-eight people on the ground, mostly doctors, medical students, and their family members, also died when the long-haul aircraft bound for London crashed into buildings in the city.
The Indian Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has started conducting a “detailed investigation,” and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is “conducting a parallel investigation because the aircraft was of US manufacture,” Dr Mishra recalled.
Agencies responsible for investigating air crashes in the US and Britain said they were sending teams to help their Indian counterparts.
Experts have said it is still too early to speculate on the cause of the disaster, which is among the worst in recent years.
Videos circulating on social media sites show the aircraft taking off but then, unable to gain altitude, crashing to the ground and exploding.
The Indian Civil Aviation Authority on Friday ordered “preventive” inspections of all Air India’s Boeing 787s, particularly their engines, wingtips, and taxiing systems.
Ask me anything
Explore related questions