Two days on, search for black box intensifies

The search team has intensified its search for the black box, as it remains untraceable even after two days of air crash near Mangalore airport.

After clearing the debris to a large extent on Sunday, the team was able to recover the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data acquisition unit -- a unit similar to the digital flight data recorder that also records flight parameter for a shorter duration.

"We have the location of the black box, but there is still some debris to be cleared," police sources said.

"We will be able to retrieve it soon," he added.

Additional forces have been pressed in to locate the black box.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is probing the incident, said most clues pointed to a pilot error.

The throttle that has been found in the forward position indicates that the pilot made an attempt to force land the plane, a DGCA source said.

Also, the investigation has shown that the plane had clearly overshot the runway and that the pilot had made a last minute attempt to take off again after he was unable to negotiate the landing correctly.

The black box is, contrary to its name, painted orange in colour so that it is easily traceable after a crash.

The black box or the flight data recorder, which is mounted at the tail of the aircraft, can helps the probe team reconstruct the events that led to the crash. The box is surrounded by multiple layers of insulation and is water, fire and pressure proof.

Experts said the box is calibrated to emit a beep sound that helps in locating it. It records the flight conditions, which include the altitude, airspeed, heading, vertical acceleration and aircraft pitch.

The cockpit voice recorder, on the other hand, records radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilots' voices and engine noises. A microphone placed on a panel above records the communication between the two pilots and also with the Air Traffic Control.