The crucial details Air India crash investigators can find out as plane’s black box is discovered

Those investigating the crash of the Air India flight yesterday have confirmed a black box from the plane has been discovered. Flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident not long after take off. It was carrying 242 passengers in total, 53 of which were British nationals.

So far, only one survivor has been confirmed. Investigations continue into what may have caused the plane to come down. Key to working out what may have happened is the black box on the flight. According to local news sources, one of two black boxes that were onboard have been found.

According to Hindustan Times, of the two black boxes, the one in the rear of the aircraft has been located and safely guarded. The publication has reported the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will now collect the equipment, and analyse its recordings. The second black box, in the aircraft’s front portion, is yet to be found.

via Press Information Bureau HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

What information is held in the black box of a plane?

Black boxes will help to reveal what triggered an accident, and anything that went wrong. It records information about the plane during its flight, and is built to withstand any damage from crashes or explosions, fire or water.

In really basic terms, it’s the plane’s recording device. It’s placed in an aircraft with the primary purpose of facilitating an investigation should an accident or incident take place. It will record data, as well as things such as a cockpit voice recorder for pilot exchanges and cockpit sounds. It will also pick up engine sounds.

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The type of data a black box will track includes altitude, airspeed, flight heading, vertical acceleration, autopilot status and pitch. All of this can help to work out what went wrong, in cases such as the Air India flight.

The cause of the crash remains unclear. However, because the pilot made a mayday call ahead of impact, it suggests they did know something was wrong. According to reports, in can take up to two weeks for data from a black box to be fully analysed.

Speaking to GB News, aviation expert and former pilot Emma Henderson explained how vital the black box will be to the Air India investigation. “Aviation always learns from these terrible tragedies, and the way we learn is to find out that information which is stored in the black box,” she explained.

“The cockpit voice recorder, all of that is stored there and will be extracted. It’s literally like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, so all the pieces will be placed together so that we can see a full picture of what happened between the moment that aircraft took off and the moment it crashed into the ground.”

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