Cockpit voice recorder recovered from Air India crash – official

The discovery could help investigators identify the likely cause of the accident that claimed 290 lives

Officials investigating the crash of Air India flight AI171, recovered the plane’s second cockpit voice recorder on Sunday, the PTI news agency reported, citing officials.
The UK-bound Boeing 787 carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed into a medical college hostel just minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing at least 290 people.

The discovery of the second box comes two days after India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) confirmed the identification of the first recorder on Friday, which is being examined by officials from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Efforts are ongoing to identify the deceased.

The number of confirmed DNA matches in the plane crash has risen to 80, with 33 bodies having been identified and handed over to their respective families, the Additional Superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, said on Sunday. In a statement, the AAIB and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said that a high-level review meeting had been held, at which relief, rescue, and investigation efforts were discussed. 

Experts have raised concerns of possible technical faults, crew miscalculations, and configuration errors as possible causes that forced the Boeing 787-8 plane into a populated area. Investigation officials told the Associated Press that early indications suggest the aircraft may not have been correctly configured for takeoff. 

DGCA has asked Air India to carry out maintenance on its Boeing 787-8/9 Dreamliner aircraft immediately, including a review of all take-off parameters and aircraft checks over the last two weeks. A team from Boeing has joined the probe into the crash on-site. Parts of the aircraft’s two General Electric GEnx engines are being sent to the US for detailed analysis, a Hindustan Times report said. 

India’s civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu confirmed in a press briefing on Saturday that “Of the 34 Dreamliners in India, eight have already undergone inspection.”