Hunt for black box continues

It may contain clues to cause of the 737-800 aircraft crash

Though the search team failed to locate the black box, the team succeeded in recovering the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the crash site.

Inquiry teams

While DGCA team headed by Director General of Civil Aviation Dr Nasim Zaidi is camping in the region, Air India Engineering Team is assisting the DGCA team.  Air India Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jhadav, Regional Executive Director D Devraj and other top officials too are camping at the site. However, they are tight-lipped about the operation.

Uneasy calm

A day after the disastrous accident, the site where Air India Express IX 812 crashed at Kenjar, was a scene of disciplined activity.  A crew of Airport Authority of India officials were involved in attempts to dig out the black box from the wreckage, which is expected to give a clue of what exactly is the cause of the unfortunate accident.

Two earth movers were used to remove the ash and other articles from the burnt remains of the aircraft while the officials monitored the action.  Other than a few volunteers, public access to the site has been completely cut off by the vigilant policemen guarding the site.

Though many members of the public came to watch the debris, they were sent away by the policemen. Only respective officials and media persons were allowed to go near the spot. In fact, a large media crew, from local, national and international media houses have camped at the site waiting eagerly for the black box to be found.

However, their waiting for the day went in vain as the box was not recovered even after rigorous digging till dusk. Meanwhile, some channels claimed that it was found, causing much confusion among the public and other media persons.

Difficult terrain

The 350 metre valley filled with thick forest has made the task difficult to the search team.  The route on which the ill-fated flight travelled in the valley after hitting the ILS concrete structure is so dense that it may take another few days to trace it.
The search for the black box will continue tomorrow.