Dornier flight data recorder found 950 metres under the sea

Chennai: Over a month after the Coast Guard's Dornier aircraft went
missing, setting in motion a massive unrelenting and uninterrupted
search operations involving ships, submarines, advanced remotely
operated vessels, planes and satellites, the efforts on Friday finally
succeeded with the recovery of the flight data recorder (FDR), cockpit
voice recorder and the wheel of the aircraft from about a kilometer
under the water.

However, there is still no information available as to the fate of the
three crew members who were on board the aircraft when it vanished
from the radar on June 8.

The FDR, the cockpit voice recorder as well as the wheel was lying at
a depth of 950 metres in the sea, at a spot about 37 km off the coast
of Pichavaram mangroves, SP Sharma, Coast Guard commander, told
Express. This was a moment of grief and relief for the force and its
top brass, who had been insisting that ‘Operation Talaash’ was moving
in the right direction after consultation with Indian Oceanography
scientists as well as international agencies in in Japan, Australia,
Canada and the US.

The breakthrough was achieved by submarine Sindhudhwajj, which picked
up a barrage of transmissions from the sonar locating beacon (SLB) at
a depth of 966 meters on Monday. That was the 28th day, just two days
prior to the minimum time-span warranty of the SLB.

Soon after, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) owned by petroleum
behemoth Reliance Industries arrived at the site from Kakinada, to
resume search operations based on the lead. “It was able to locate and
recover the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and one line
replacement unit from a depth of about 950 metres in a unique and
first-ever salvage operation at such depth around 4pm Friday evening.
The 37.6 MHZ signal from the flight data recorder was picked up by
ROV. This also proves that SLB did continue to emit signal even after
30 days,” Sharma said, adding that the FDR as well as cockpit voice
recorder could provide vital information to establishing the cause of
the incident.

The spot where the aircraft crashed had a shallow continental shelf to
the west and steep continental slope towards the east, which was
hampering the search operations. The bottom slope was inclined beyond
80.2 degree East. The sedimentation at the bottom was soft sand, and
silty to the east.

While it was a brief moment of jubilation for the rescue team that
has, by now, completed 693 hours of surface search and another 196
hours over air, the significance of the development is only sinking in
for the families of the three crew members who had been nursing hopes
to see them alive.

Padma, mother of co-pilot deputy commandant Subash Suresh, said she
was in a state of shock after learning about the news. “I am aware
about the flight data recorder having been recovered. You can
understand our plight," she said. However, Subash's uncle told Express
on Friday night that Padma was the strongest in the family and
continued to believe that her son would return. "She insists that the
crew were experienced hands, and that they would come back alive,"
said the relative.

A close relative of Deputy Commandant navigator Manoj Kumar Soni said
the family has learned that the FDR has been recovered from the sea.
“The family is now in Bhopal. They are in a state of shock and not in
a position to speak to anyone at the moment,” said the relative.