Ahmedabad plane crash: From MAYDAY call to Black Box, key details to crack Aviation disasters
PTC News Desk: A London bound Air India flight Dreamliner, AI-171 with 242 passengers on board crashed shortly after taking off near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. The flight took off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport.
The preliminary information suggest that the aircraft crash landed near a residential area near the city’s Meghani Nagar area triggering a massive rescue operation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that the Boeing 787 aircraft took off from Runway 23 at 1:39 PM IST, and issued a MAYDAY call moments later.
What is MAYDAY call?
When a pilot screams 'MAYDAY' it means they have declared a life-threatening emergency situation which requires immediate help. During the call, all nonessential radio traffic must stand down, and air traffic control (ATC) prioritises that call.
The DGCA in a statement confirmed that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal commanded flight gave a MAYDAY call to Air Traffic Control (ATC). The MAYDAY call in situation as serious as Ahmedabad crash confirmed that that the crew faced a sudden, critical event shortly after taking off.
Following the issuance of the signal, all the emergence protocols dispatching fire, medical, and security services are rushed to the scene.
What is a Black Box?
Contrary to its name and popular belief, the black box in aircraft are actually a bright orange crash-resistant devices designed to survive extreme impact and fire.
Every commercial aircraft carries two such recorders:
These recorders are built to withstand explosions, fire, water pressure and high speed crashes.
Why it is crucial after crash ?
The blackbox provides second-by-second reconstruction of events that leads to a crash providing the most objective account of what transpired in a cockpit and across aircraft systems. The recordings will also show whether pilots issued a mayday call, attempted recovery manoeuvres, or received any automated warnings.
The Black Box is the only reliable device which provides accurate account of the information when there are no survivors or when physical evidence is destroyed or inconclusive.
As the search teams work to locate the black boxes amid the wreckage, these orange recorders hold the answers to what lead to the fatal plane crash and how future tragedies can be averted.
- With inputs from agencies
