Investigators in southern India recovered a flight data recorder Sunday from the site of India's worst air crash in more than a decade. Eight people survived Saturday's crash, but 158 were killed. The black box - the digital cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder - which gives crucial inputs to investigators on the causes of air mishaps - was located by a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) team which joined the local police Sunday morning to search for it. Recovery of the Boeing 737's recorders is crucial for determining what when wrong when the Air India Express plane overshot the Mangalore airport runway on landing, and skidded into a ravine before bursting into flames. The Times of India reports that the US National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to India at the request of the Indian government. Boeing is also sending a team of experts to join the crash investigation. The Press Trust of India says experts have arrived to conduct DNA tests to help in the identification of the charred bodies. The plane was carrying 166 people, including a crew of six, on a flight from Dubai. All of the passengers were Indian nationals. Air India Sunday said that 87 bodies have been handed over to the family members and relatives of the passengers. All the 158 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, Air India spokesperson Harpreet Singh De said. “All the 158 bodies have been recovered from the crash site and 87 bodies have already been handed over to relatives,” De told reporters. The probe into the crash resumed at first light on Sunday with the wreckage area cordoned off. Immediately after the accident, crowds of local residents had streamed to the site to help rescue victims. “At times we dragged them by a hand or by the leg,” Mohammed Azim, one of the first people to reach the plane, told the CNN-IBN news channel. About 25 investigators used mechanical metal-cutters to start their examination of the plane's remains, while hired laborers cleaned up debris scattered widely across the muddy slopes. Officials said the landing conditions were fair with good visibility and reported there had been no distress call from the cockpit.
