By Team Mangalorean

Mangalore/New Delhi, May 25 The elusive black box of the ill fated Air India Express Dubai Mangalore flight has been found today after two days of intense search and three days after crash. The Black box was lying in the mud amid the mass of debris near the tail cone. It was found by the driver of a digger that was working on site since Saturday. Mehboob driver of the machine when scooped up a pile of mud found it dangling from teeth of the scoop he went down to pick it up by hand and found it in an unusual shape of metal and handed it over to the official of the DGCA who were supervising the search operations.

A loud cheer went up in the air when it was announced by the official, partly due to the fact that the box was found and the mystery that shrouded the crash of the flight and partly that sounded the end of the search.

The black box which is usually encased in an orange colour heavy metal box has been reduced into an insignificant mass of metal and rubber in this case. The DGCA authorities who had the rough picture of the condition of the black box knew that in this case the box casing might of been melted or ejected due to the impact, they were prepared to see it in a different shape said one of the officials of the DGCA. The vital box has been now given to the DGCA headquarters at Delhi where it will be decoded for analysis. A special team of the DGCA have taken it to Delhi.

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Flight data recorder from crashed Air India plane recovered

(IANS) Another part of the black box, the digital flight data recorder (DFDR) of the Air India Express plane that crashed in Mangalore killing 158 people, was found Tuesday after three days of intensive search operations.

A relieved search team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the local police in Mangalore also displayed the DFDR, which was black due to fire and smoke.

"The DFDR has been handed over to the air safety team of DGCA and is being brought back to the DGCA Headquarters," a statement by the civil aviation ministry said. 

"The DFDR, though apparently impacted by the crash, will be subjected to further tests for decoding and made available to the investigators," the statement, said, but did not specify the exact location of where the device was found.

The team late Sunday recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and a part of the black box containing the digital flight data acquisition unit (DFDAU).

In aviation parlance, black box is a loose term used for two vital pieces of equipment, the digital cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, both of which give crucial inputs to investigators on causes of air accidents.

One device records all conversations in the cockpit and those with air traffic control. The other has the history of the aircraft's flight details, such as acceleration, engine thrust, airspeed, altitude, rudder position, which are also vital for crash probes.

The CVR of the crashed plane has been affected by fire but it is expected to yield the desired information, according to a DGCA statement.

Though the DFDAU, a parallel unit of the digital flight data recorder that records flight parameter for shorter duration has also been recovered, search for the latter is continuing, the statement said.

"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 in Mangalore.

Flight IX 812 burst into flames after falling over a cliff early Saturday and most of the 158 victims, including 19 children and four infants, were burnt to death. The Boeing overshot the runway while landing at Bajpe airport, about 20 km from here.

All six crew members of the flight, including the commander and the co-pilot, also perished in the disaster. Eight passengers survived and are being treated for their injuries in various hospitals in the city.

Police said 22 bodies are yet to be identified and DNA tests will be conducted. Forensic experts from Hyderabad have taken samples necessary for the DNA test from family members. Results of the tests will be known in about a week.

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