Second black box found: officials

Investigators in India yesterday recovered the second black box from the London-bound Air India Boeing 787 that crashed in the city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 279 people, authorities announced.

The cockpit voice recorder has been found, PK Mishra, a senior aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said in a statement. The flight data recorder was recovered on Friday, one day after the crash.

Only one passenger survived among the 242 travellers and crew on board the Air India jet when it crashed Thursday into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground.

"The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols since the aircraft is American-made," Mishra said in a statement.

"Officials confirmed that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) have been located and secured."

Multiple experts have said it is too soon to say why the jet crashed shortly after takeoff.

Meanwhile, mourners covered white coffins with flowers in India yesterday as funerals were held for some of the victims.

Health officials have begun handing over the first passenger bodies identified through DNA testing, delivering them to grieving relatives in the western city of Ahmedabad, but the wait went on for most families.

"They said it would take 48 hours. But it's been four days and we haven't received any response," said Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother was a passenger on the jetliner.