The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on Tuesday said it had sought specialised assistance to retrieve data from the cockpit voice recorder of the crashed Learjet 45 plane that was carrying Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
The aircraft’s black box was exposed to intense heat for a prolonged period during the accident and suffered fire damage.
Pawar and four others were killed in the crash of the VSR Ventures-owned Learjet 45 on January 28 near the Baramati airstrip after the pilots failed to spot a runway for landing because of poor visibility.
The black box is crucial to ascertain the cause of the crash as the device records cockpit voices and data. The device records and stores data such as aircraft parameters, voice conversations of the pilots, radio communications and cockpit ambient noise.
“The aircraft was equipped with two independent flight recorders. Both recorders were exposed to intense heat for a prolonged period during the accident and sustained
fire damage,” the AAIB said in a statement.
The digital flight data recorder, manufactured by L3-Communications, has been successfully downloaded at the AAIB Flight Recorder Laboratory. The cockpit voice recorder, manufactured by Honeywell, is undergoing technical examination.
“Assistance has been sought from the accredited representative of the state of manufacture for specialised support in data retrieval,” the AAIB said.
L3-Communications and Honeywell are American companies, while the Learjet 45 aircraft was manufactured by the Learjet division of the Canadian company Bombardier Aerospace.
The AAIB, which is investigating the accident, said it was strictly following the norms related to accident and incident investigation.
The bureau said it was diligently following all prescribed technical and procedural protocols to ensure a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based investigation. The bureau said it remained fully committed to transparency and would share further information at the appropriate stage of the investigation.