Investigators have successfully recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed last Thursday, marking a significant step in uncovering the cause of the tragedy that claimed at least 270 lives.
The ill-fated Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, headed for London, had taken off from Ahmedabad in western India but went down shortly after departure.
The majority of the deceased were passengers onboard the aircraft.
The CVR, a critical component in aviation crash analysis, records all audio from the cockpit, such as pilots’ conversations, warning alarms, and other cockpit sounds.
It will now be analyzed alongside the flight data recorder, which was recovered from the crash debris a day after the incident. The FDR stores vital flight metrics including engine performance, speed, and altitude.
Together, the CVR and FDR are referred to as the aircraft’s “black box”, a term that belies their actual bright orange color with reflective stripes to aid visibility and recovery in crash sites.
Both instruments are built to endure extreme conditions during accidents and are indispensable in reconstructing events leading up to an aviation disaster.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is spearheading the crash inquiry, supported by American and British experts.
A team from the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board examined the crash site on Sunday.
“The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, since the aircraft is American-made,” a statement released on Sunday read.
Reports from Indian media suggest that representatives from Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration have also assessed the crash scene.
Simultaneously, a top-level committee appointed by the Indian government to explore the crash’s underlying causes is expected to convene its first session on Monday.
According to All India Radio, the panel will submit an interim report within three months and propose new standard operating procedures (SOPs) aimed at averting future incidents.
While official investigations intensify, grief and uncertainty continue to plague the families of victims.
Just moments after lifting off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, flight AI171 plummeted into a residential block meant for doctors at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital complex.
Out of the 242 people onboard, only one survived. Authorities are also working to determine the total number of casualties on the ground while progressing slowly through the process of identifying victims via DNA.
By Monday, over the weekend, 270 bodies had been recovered, according to Dr. Rajnish Patel of Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital.
“More than 90 victims have been identified through DNA matching,” he said. “47 of the identified bodies have been sent to their families.”
Among the confirmed victims is former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. His funeral, with full state honors, is scheduled to be held in Rajkot on Monday. Rupani was a political figure whose career spanned five decades.
Many other families are still waiting anxiously for closure.
Due to the extent of the fire and injuries caused by the crash, some remains are severely burned, requiring methodical identification in smaller groups.
The delay has added to the emotional toll on relatives of the victims.
Mistry Jignesh, who has been waiting outside the hospital for news on his missing niece, expressed his anguish to the BBC, “When people are still missing, how can they complete the DNA process by tomorrow? What if my niece’s remains haven’t even been found? The wait is killing us,” he said.
He noted that officials had initially informed him that the body would be returned within 72 hours.
“They told me it might take longer for them to hand over his niece’s remains as the search for bodies is still ongoing,” he added on Saturday.
