Digital Flight Data Recorder recovered from AI Express flight: DGCA official

Kozhikode: Civil aviation ministry’s investigation agency, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), has recovered digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the Air India plane that crashed in Kozhikode, Kerala on Friday evening. The recovered components, that make up the black box of the aircraft, will help investigators figure out what prevented the Boeing Co. 737 from making a landing on Friday. The equipment will be brought to Delhi for further investigation.

At least 19 people, including the pilot and the co-pilot of the plane, have been killed as Air India Express flight IX 1344 overshot the runway at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport and fell into a valley, breaking into two. The flight was bringing Indians stranded in Dubai amid Covid-19 pandemic under the government’s Vande Bharat Mission.

The accident happened around at around 7:41 pm on Friday when the Air India flight from Dubai was making a descent and preparing for landing with 190 passengers and plane crew on board.

The Union civil aviation ministry and the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will hold an urgent meeting with Air India officials over the incident on Saturday at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Amit Shah, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri, among many other leaders and politicians expressed grief over the accident. United Nations’ specialised aviation agency, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), also regretted the accident.