Black box of Agni recovered

KATHMANDU, Sept 1: On the seventh day of the crash, the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of Agni airlines´ Dornier aircraft that crashed on August 24 has been recovered, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has confirmed.

Although two devices have been recovered from the crash site, it is yet unclear whether the second device is Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).


The FDR and CVR form crucial parts of the black box which can determine the real cause of the crash.

“Local police reported to us that an object was recovered from beneath the crater left by the crash. We are almost certain that it is the aircraft´s black box,” said Suresh Acharya, spokesperson for a committee formed by the government to probe the crash, adding, “A team of experts that is likely to fly to the district on Wednesday will confirm whether it is indeed the black box.”

Both the objects were found by a police team that was carrying out excavation at the crash site, according to Makawanpur´s Superintendent of Police Ram Prasad Shrestha.

“One of the objects is orange in color and weighs about five kilograms. Another, which weighs around eight kilograms, has been slightly damaged by the impact of the crash,” Shrestha told myrepublica.com. The box was identified on Tuesday evening at 5 pm.

It has also been revealed that a chunk of a human body has been recovered from the crash site. In addition, sources have informed myrepublica.com that other charred human remains have been recovered as well.

CAAN sources said that the government will send the FDR for decoding in Bangalore, India, as soon as it is brought to the capital city.

The recovered body parts will be brought to Kathmandu from the site on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the American embassy in Kathmandu has said that it is “pleased” to hear that the black box has been recovered.

“We are pleased that the box has been recovered at this stage and we are sure that the government will do the needful to take the investigation further,” the spokesperson for the embassy said. The US government has its forensic scientists working with the government of Nepal at present.

The families of the crash victims have demanded that the remains not be burnt at the site and be brought to Kathmandu for DNA testing.

Fourteen persons, including eleven passengers and three crew members, died on August 24 when the Lukla-bound airplane crashed in Shikharpur of Makawanpur while returning to Kathmandu after it failed to land at Lukla airport. Among those killed were four Americans, a Japanese and a British national.

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