M'lore crash: Cockpit recorder brought to Delhi

The crucial devices of Air India Express aircraft that crashed on Saturday, including the Cockpit Voice Recorder, which could provide vital clues were brought to New Delhi on Monday night to analyse the cause of the accident that claimed 158 lives.

A team of investigators, led by Director General Civil Aviation S M A Zaidi, landed at Delhi along with CVR and other relevant equipment.

The CVR and the Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit, which record the cockpit audio and most of the aircraft's technical details, were taken to the headquarters of Directorate General of Civil Aviation in New Delhi for analysis, official sources said.

The search for another key device, the Flight Data Recorder, continued at the Mangalore crash site through the day.

The CVR and the DFDAU, which were retrieved from the debris in a burnt condition, would be analysed by officers of the DGCA's Air Safety Division. While the CVR captures radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit such as the pilots' voices and engine noise, the DFDAU records all parameters of a short-duration flight.

However, since the two crucial devices are damaged, efforts would be made to take the electronic chips of the CVR and insert them in a serviceable unit in order to retrieve the information, the sources said.

Analysis of CVR and DFDAU is expected to take at least a fortnight, while the analysis of all records and documents collected would take a couple of weeks, they said.

Meanwhile, a preliminary replay and analysis of the audio taped conversation between the Air Traffic Control at the Bajpe airport and the pilots of the Boeing 737-800, moments before the crash has been carried out, they said.

Four teams of investigators from engineering, operations, ATC and aerodrome units made several rounds of inspection of the wreckage, the runway and the adjoining areas of the accident site.

These teams have also collected a large number of material for evidence through extensive search of the aerodrome, runway and navigational facilities, the sources said.

An official statement had yesterday said that though the CVR was 'affected by fire, it is expected to yield the desired information.'

The teams have already taken over all records pertaining to the aircraft and the air crew for investigations, the sources added.