Investigators find voice recorder at India jet crash site

Cockpit voice recorder could explain why a Boeing 737 crashed in southern India, killing 158 people.

Travel Insurance News - 24/05/2010

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Officials poring over the hillside wreckage of an Air India Express Boeing 737 have discovered the cockpit voice recorder. The device should provide investigators with key information about what happened in the cockpit in the last minutes before India’s worst aviation accident in almost ten years.

Workers are still searching for the flight data recorder, which would provide key information on flight parameters from which the cause of the accident may be determined. All of the passengers on the flight, which originated in Dubai, were Indian nationals.

The jet came down in wooded gorge beyond the runway at Mangalore, erupting in flames. Eight survivors remain in hospital, where they are being treated for injuries including burns. Meanwhile, scores of relatives await the identification and release of the bodies of their loved ones. The fire has made identification of many of the bodies difficult. A recently-arrived team of experts will use DNA testing but it could still take days to complete the process of identifying the bodies.

The airport at Mangalore sits on a steeply-sided hill. Aviation authorities say conditions at the time were fair and visibility was good. No distress call was received from the cockpit.

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