Coast Guard has earmarked the search for the three airmen, who were aboard the aircraft, as the top priority
The three personnel on board were Pilot S. Vidhya Sagar (top left), co-pilot Subash Suresh (bottom left) and observer M.K. Soni (right) (Photo: DC)
Chennai: A day after retrieving the flight data recorder (FDR) from the depths of the sea off Pichavaram, the search party for the Dornier aircraft C6-791 has been specifically instructed to locate the missing aircrew. This comes in the backdrop of fear about the fate of Pilot S. Vidhya Sagar, co-pilot Subash Suresh and observer M.K. Soni who were on board. More than a month after the flight went missing along the Cuddalore- Karaikal coastline, ‘Operation Talash’ on Friday made a significant breakthrough with the retrieval of the FDR as well as a part of the flight’s undercarriage.
The search process to locate the remaining components will continue. But the Coast Guard has earmarked the search for the three airmen, who were aboard the aircraft, as the top priority.
Speaking to DC on Saturday, Inspector General S.P. Sharma, Eastern Region Commander of Coast Guard, said, “There has not been much success so far in locating the flight crew. But we have instructed the search party, led by the ship MV Olympic Canyon, to focus on detecting any signs of them in the nearby region.”
Meanwhile, the flight data recorder of the aircraft, currently on board the MV Olympic Canyon, is waiting to be transported to Chennai. “We are in touch with the flight’s manufacturer (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), as well as established contact with the equipment’s (FDR) manufacturer for assistance regarding its decoding. It will be handed over to the analysis team in a day or two,” S.P. Sharma said.
Aviation safety experts believe professional experts like National Transportation Safety Board (USA) or the Air Accidents Investigation Team (UK) should do the analysis of the FDR’s data, which is replete with all parameters like speed, altitude, location and engine performance. “I suspect the sudden loss in communication between the ATC and the aircraft is due to an engine explosion or engine disintegration. But, we need to wait for the findings of an external investigation,” said Captain Mohan Ranganathan, Aviation Safety consultant.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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