The National Transportation Safety Board said today that the Atlas Air 3591 flight data recorder has been recovered. As we reported previously, the cockpit voice recorder had already been recovered. The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft, flying for Amazon Air, crashed last Saturday on approach to Houston Intercontinental (IAH), killing the pilots and one non-revenue jump-seat pilot.
The NTSB says that the flight data was successfully downloaded from the digital flight data recorder, and that the accident flight was captured from a total of approximately 54 hours of data across 17 flights. Some 350 parameters from the Boeing 767 were captured during this time, including engine performance and data regarding the flight controls.
Preliminary information from the CVR includes the following, according to the NTSB: “The length of the recording is approximately two hours and was obtained from a download of a solid-state type cockpit voice recorder. The crew was in communication with air traffic control and were being provided radar vectors for the Runway 26L approach into George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Crew communications consistent with a loss of control of the aircraft began approximately 18 seconds prior to the end of the recording.”
Recovery crews remain on scene in Trinity Bay, approximately 40 miles southeast of IAH.
