US experts to join India plane crash probe

Mangalore, May 23, 2010

A team of top US transportation experts along with officials from Boeing will join Indian aviation authorities in probing the plane crash in Mangalore that killed 158 people on Saturday, a report said.

The Air India Express flight, which originated from Dubai, overshot the airport runway in Magalore and burst into flames, killing 158 people. Eight people survived the crash.

The team, which will assist India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in investigation into the plane crash, is scheduled to reach Mangalore on Tuesday morning, a US official was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is sending its investigators to India at the request of the Indian government, an official statement said.

"NTSB chairman, Deborah A P Hersman, has designated senior air safety investigator Joe Sedor as the US Accredited Representative," the NTSB statement said.

"The US team will also include an NTSB flight operations specialist, an NTSB aircraft systems specialist and technical advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing," it said.

"The team is expected to arrive in Mangalore on Tuesday morning (local time)," the NTSB said.

Meanwhile, Indian investigators on Sunday sifted through the wreckage of the plane.
Officials from the DGCA said the "black box" digital data recorder that should shed light on the cause of the disaster had not yet been found.

They are also searching for the cockpit voice recorder.

Tags: Dubai | Plane Crash | Probe | Mangalore | Air India Experss |