New Delhi: The Indian Air Force is searching for the Mi-17 helicopter’s black box which records the flight data as it goes missing after the helicopter crashed near Budgam on February 27 killing six personnel on board and it.
According to the sources in the IAF, “The black box has gone missing after the crash and we are trying to locate it. It is possible that it has been taken away by the hostile locals, who have taken away many other parts as well.”
On February 27 when the Pakistan Air Force aircraft launched an aerial attack on India, the Mi-17 had taken off from Srinagar but unfortunately, it crashed near Budgam and claimed six lives.
Black Box is an electronic device employed to record instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft and it provides complete details of the events. It is crucial to know the sequence of events before an accident or a crash.
The Air Force in its statement said, “On 27 February 2019, one Mi-17 V5 helicopter of Indian Air Force got airborne from Srinagar airfield at 1000 hrs for a routine mission. The helicopter crashed around 1010 hrs near Budgam, J&K. All six air warriors on board the helicopter suffered fatal injuries. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the accident.”
Recently, the reason for the crash of a Mirage-2000 was found out after the data in the black box was extracted in France.
According to the reports, right before the crash of the Mi-17 took place, an air defence missile was fired from Srinagar. The reports suggest that the investigation in the matter is trying to connect the dots in the incident.
The court of inquiry into the accident is still going on and has not yet concluded about the real cause of the accident, said the IAF officials.