Dornier Crew hardly had any time to escape before the crash

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Questions arise whether the three crew members of Indian Coast Guard’s
Dornier aircraft, that went under the sea, could have got enough time
to eject themselves out before hitting the bottom of the sea?



While the flight data recorder as well as cockpit voice recorder is
yet to be decoded with the help of international agencies, questions
arise on why there was no attempt by the crew to use the life jacket
or eject themselves out.



But experts having experience in the sea feel that the crew hardly had
any time left while returning after completing the surveillance
operation along International Maritime Boundary Line to ensure there
was no trespass by Indian fishermen.



“It could have come like a stone with the crew hardly getting any time
to get out of the aircraft. The pressure of water is such that all one
could get is only bones,” said an expert.



Interestingly, the crew did not have the G-suits (gravitational suits)
which could have protected them from hurtling against such a
gravitational speed. “Without it, it could even lead to heaemorage,”
said an expert.



Even the transport aircraft don’t have the ejection seats as the
fighter aircraft have. This could have been one such factor that would
have restricted the crew from ejecting themselves out and having a
limited time to come out.



Besides, it is likely the aircraft dropped into the sea from an
altitude of 5,000 feet in 12 seconds like stone. And the water
pressure is such that the flesh could have hardly withstood it and the
bones would have disintegrated. It is also quite likely that the skull
could have sank further down in the sea.



The water pressure has also played a big role and it has also hampered
the search by submarine at sub surface level. The submarines don’t
have the expertise to go below 300 metres although INS Sindhudhwajj
played a key role in receiving the sonar transmissions from the
emergency locating beacon. It was only the Reliance vessel MSV Olympic
Canyon’s ROV which was successful in detecting the debris as well as
human remains.



Interestingly, the watch of the one of the crew member which was
detected by the ROV showed the timing as appearing to be 8.40. But
experts believe the underwater pressure may have changed the needle
positions. While it is too early to predict what could have caused the
crash, experts like Commodore Sekhar say it will take two weeks to
decode the cockpit voice recorder as well as flight data recorder by
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited before the cause is ascertained.



Box:

The Flight Data Recorder of Indian Coast Guard would be decoded by a
foreign company which manufactured it, according to Inspector General
of Coastguard (East) Commander S P Sharma.



Currently, the FDR as well as Cockpit Voice Recorder is at the
Airforce station of Coastguard. The DNA tests on the parents as well
as offspring of the crew would be conducted by the state forensic lab
on Wednesday to ascertain the identity of the crew members.

Box:

Name of the aircraft:

CG DOR 791: Missing Since June 8

Crew : Three (missing since June 8)

Found: Underwater on July 10

Crew Remains Found: July 12

The debris found:

Flight Data recorder

Two engines

Propellers

Tail and tail cone

Air frame parts

Maevest

The Single Line Replacement units

Parts of fuselage

Part of landing gear

Cockpit voice recorder

Crew remains:

Bones

Toe bone

Watch

Boot worn by crew

Life jackets

Not recoveerd:

Skull