The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced on Thursday that the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), together referred to as the 'black box,' had been successfully recovered and their data extracted, marking a major breakthrough in the investigation of the Air India crash. These crucial flight recorders were recovered from the debris of Air India Flight 171, which tragically crashed on June 12 and killed 275 people.
The black box, which was transported from Ahmedabad to Delhi on June 24, is currently being thoroughly examined at the Ministry's crash investigation division's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The critical flight data has been downloaded for additional analysis after the memory modules from the CVR and FDR were successfully accessed. The front black box's Crash Protection Module (CPM), which is made to resist high temperatures and impacts, was also safely recovered.
The Ministry claims that this information will assist investigators in retracing the events leading up to the deadly collision and determining the factors that contributed to it. Improving aviation safety and averting future incidents of this nature are the main objectives.
In contrast to previous reports that indicated the black box might be sent to the United States because of the severe damage it sustained, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed on Wednesday that it is still in India and is being examined by the AAIB. After it was revealed that the flight recorders had sustained significant external damage from the intense fire that followed the crash, conjecture began to circulate.
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Despite being designed to withstand harsh conditions, investigators observed that the temperature at the crash site had risen to almost 1,000 degrees Celsius, which may account for the flight recorders' unusually high level of damage.
The CVR and FDR were recovered within two days of the crash by the AAIB, which has been given three months to finish its thorough investigation. While the FDR records important technical parameters like airspeed, altitude, and engine performance, the CVR records all cockpit audio, including pilot conversations, alarms, and background noise.
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Decoding this data is thought to be essential to determining the precise reason behind the crash. Captain Steve Scheibner, a former US Navy pilot and aviation safety expert, has conjectured that the crash might have been caused by a dual engine failure, although the official findings are still pending. He stated in an interview with national media that the early activation of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), a backup power source that kicks in when engine power is lost, raises the possibility that both engines failed soon after takeoff.
The aviation community and the victims' families are waiting for conclusive answers as the black box analysis proceeds. It is anticipated that the results of this study will influence future aviation safety regulations and support international initiatives to stop these devastating air disasters.
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