The answer to what went wrong for Air India Flight 171 may lie in the plane’s black boxes – small but sturdy electronic data recorders.
Planes generally carry one to record sound from the cockpit so that investigators can hear what the pilots are saying and listen out for any unusual sounds that may give them a lead. A second also records flight data, like altitude and speed.
Typically, black boxes are kept in the tail of the plane, thought to be the section that is typically least damaged in the event of a crash.
We’re yet to hear whether the black boxes for Flight 171 have been recovered, but if they are, don’t expect immediate answers – it can sometimes take days or weeks to analyse the data.
Key updates: Modi visits crash site as searches for Air India black boxes continue
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the scene of Thursday’s plane crash in Ahmedabad which is known to have killed more than 240 people
- After viewing the accident site, Modi then went to a nearby hospital to meet some of those injured in the disaster
- Grieving families have been identifying bodies at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital – all but one of the 242 people on board the London Gatwick-bound Air India flight died when it crashed into a doctors’ hostel
- The sole survivor from the flight – a British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh – is being treated in hospital
- Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 60, is among those who died – he was a pilot with more than 8,200 hours of flying experience and was just months away from retirement
- In the UK, tributes have been paid to some of the 53 Britons who were onboard the flight – including a family from Gloucester and a family from Northamptonshire
- At least eight people who were not on the Air India aircraft have also died in the crash, a senior health official has told the BBC
- The cause of the crash is still not known and investigators are still searching for the two black boxes which will provide more details.
Cafeteria worker waits for news of his wife and granddaughter
At the hospital, we met 50-year-old Prahlad Thakor, who worked at the cafeteria at the doctors’ hospital. He was out delivering lunchboxes when the plane crashed into the building.
But he has no news of his wife, 45-year-old Sarla Thakor, and their granddaughter, two-year-old Aadya, who were there.
Mr Thakor submitted DNA samples at the hospital yesterday and doctors have told him that it will take 72 hours to see if there are any matches with the bodies that they’ve found.
So we are seeing people here coming to the hospital with no confirmed news of what’s happened to their loved ones and just waiting for DNA test results – or hoping that they might still be found at the site.
Stream of ambulances and grief-stricken families outside post mortem room
Through the morning, many ambulances have come out of the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad where families have gathered. But the ambulances aren’t carrying survivors – they are for the bodies of victims.
Boeing CEO offers condolences to the victims and families
Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg has now issued a statement about the crash, saying his thoughts are with the victims.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad,” he says.
Ortberg says he spoke with Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran “to offer our full support”, and reiterates that Boeing will support an investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
