The black boxes of a London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed soon after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad are now being processed. to ascertain the plane crash that left hundreds of people dead.
The India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau assisted by experts from the U.K., the U.S. and officials from Boeing are all involved in the study.
Recovered from the aircraft wreckage the black boxes has cockpit conversations and data related to the plane’s engine and control settings which will investigators in determining the cause of the crash.
The cockpit voice recorder records pilots’ conversation, emergency alarms and any distress signal made before a crash. The plane’s digital flight data recorder stores information related to engine and control settings. Both devices are designed to survive a crash.
“The data will reveal everything,” one expert said, adding that the technical details could be corroborated by the cockpit voice recorder that would help investigators know of any communication between air traffic control and the pilots.
He said the investigating authorities will scan CCTV footage of the nearby area and speak with witnesses to get to the root cause of the crash.
Additionally, the investigators will also study the pilot training records, total load of the aircraft, thrust issues related to the plane’s engine, as well as its worthiness in terms of past performances and any previously reported issues.
An official of India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, said the investigators across the world follow a standard UN-prescribed Manual of Accident Investigation, also called “DOC 9756,” which outlines detailed procedures to arrive at the most probable cause of a crash.
A total of 280 persons were killed with only one passenger surviving in one of India’s worst aviation disaster in decades.
Authorities have also begun inspecting and carrying out additional maintenance and checks of Air India’s entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to prevent any future incident. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
The plane that crashed was 12 years old. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.
