Missing black box of Indian crash plane found

An Indian aviation official diaplays the the missing part of the doomed Air India plane's black box -- digital flight recorder in Mangalore of India, May 25, 2010. Investigators have found the missing part of the doomed Air India plane's black box -- digital flight recorder from the crash site of Mangalore, said officials on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

After three days of intensive search, investigators Tuesday found the digital flight data recorder from the jet crash site in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Tuesday, a senior official said.

The Boeing 737 of Air India Express, an offshoot of the country 's national carrier Air India, overshot Mangalore airport's hilltop runway on landing and crashed into a valley, bursting into flames and killing 158 people on Saturday.

Air India's General Manager G.M. Mathew showed the retrieved part of the black box to the media at the crash site.

"What was recovered today is the main part (of the black box)," Mathew said.

The digital flight data recorder of the crashed plane will give details such as the plane's acceleration, engine thrust, airspeed, altitude and rudder position, which may help uncover the cause of the disaster.

The investigators at the crash site on Sunday recovered the cockpit voice recorder which records radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit such as the pilot's conversation with the Air Traffic Controller.

They were brought to the laboratory of the Director General of Civil Aviation in the Indian capital New Delhi.

Source: Xinhua