Daily News

Mangalore: All the 158 bodies of the Mangalore air crash victims have now been recovered. However, with the black box voice recorder not yet recovered, it was unclear why Flight IX-812, carrying mostly migrant workers returning from the Persian Gulf, overshot the runway in Mangalore and plunged down the hillside early Saturday.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) officials are at the crash site trying to recover the Cockpit Voice Recorder, commonly known as black box, as well as the Flight Data Recorder. The analysis of the data from these equipment could give vital clues to the cause of the crash.

Officials said the weather had been good at the time, and there were no indications so far of mechanical problems or a communications mix-up with air traffic control.

Meanwhile, 25 bodies are still unidentified.

A team of experts have arrived at the site from Hyderabad to conduct DNA tests to help in identification of bodies charred beyond recognition in the Air India Express plane crash.

Some 115 bodies had been identified so far, Deputy Inspector General of Mangalore Gopal B Hosur told PTI.

158 people died when the Mangalore-bound Boeing 737-800 flight from Dubai overshot the runway and burst into flames at the Bajpe airport here. Eight persons survived.

A total of 23 children were among the 158 dead. There were 166 passengers on board.

The search operation to locate the black box and the cockpit voice recorder, among other things, at theMangalore air crash site was suspended on Saturday night due to darkness.

Sources said the black box or the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder could not be located from the massive wreckage of the ill-fated Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Air India Express.