One of the key first steps to be taken in the aftermath of an aviation accident is locating the aircraft's black boxes. The term 'black boxes' collectively refers to a plane's flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), and data from them can help investigators examine accidents more closely. For the recent Yeti Airlines crash, it has been announced that this will occur in Singapore.
Upcoming analysis
The location of the analysis has been somewhat unclear in the 11 days since the accident. Indeed, a report by AP News two days after the crash suggested that local investigators would analyze the voice recorder, while the flight data recorder would be sent to France. While a long way from Nepal, there would be logic to this.
Indeed, the plane involved in the crash of Yeti Airlines flight 691 was a ATR 72-500, with the manufacturers of this Franco-Italian twin-turboprop airliner being based in the French city of Toulouse. As such, this would allow those familiar with the aircraft to handle the data, with French representatives having visited the crash site.
However, a more recent AP News report has confirmed that the content of the black boxes will actually now be analyzed elsewhere. Singapore is to be the location, and, in this instance, both the FDR and the CVR will be sent there.
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Departing Nepal tomorrow
As far as the timescales for this examination in Singapore are concerned, Nepalese authorities have said that the black boxes will be sent off to Singapore tomorrow. Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Rajendra Kumar KC stated:
"The Nepal investigating team is leaving on Friday with the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder where the data will be downloaded and analyzed."
While this will take some of the burden off local authorities investigating the crash, there is still a degree of work to be done at the site. This is because the remains of two people who were onboard the aircraft are yet to be located. While it has been determined that all 72 people onboard perished in the disaster, the location of the missing victims will hopefully provide their families some closure.
What do we know so far?
Yeti Airlines flight 691 crashed on the morning of January 15th this year while on approach to Pokhara International Airport on a scheduled domestic flight from Kathmandu Tribhuvan International. The aircraft had 68 passengers (from eight different countries) and four crew members onboard, all of whom sadly died as a result of the accident. The crash is the deadliest ever involving the ATR 72.
Video footage from the site showed that the aircraft was banking sharply to the left in the moments immediately before its fatal impact with the ground. The day after the crash, reports began emerging that the black boxes had been found.
The aircraft involved in the disaster was a 15.5-year-old ATR 72-500 that bore the registration 9N-ANC. Data from ch-aviation.com shows that it joined Yeti Airlines in April 2019, having previously flown for Kingfisher and Nok Air.
Sources: AP News, AP News, ch-aviation.com