Recovery of bodies

Press, 4 December 1979, Page 6

Recovery of bodies

l- From fhmt page

While waiting for the photographers to arrive yesterday policemen at the crash sit probed the surface with metal rods to ensure that no bodies had been covered by recently fallen snow.

The Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, (Mr R. Chippendale), discussed the crash last evening with representatives of the DC 10 manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, the engine maker General Electric, and the United States National Transportation Safety Board. (The Americans flew to McMurdo Station yesterday in a Starlifter). Mr Chippendale took j possession of the flight reI corders yesterday morning. He said that air-crash investigators at -the crash site, having found the flight i recorders, would now do routine crash-survey work. The secrets of the flight recorders might not be revealed for another two weeks. '

The flight-data tape is a complex recording. A new tape is fitted at the start of each flight, and records are taken of such things as speed, altitude, rate of climb, engine power, temperatures and pressures. The voice recorder is a continuous tape which automatically wipes previous recordings to provide a record of the last 30 minutes of conversation in the cockpit. It also picks up all sound in the cockpit so it could provide clues on engine power and how many engines were running. The two flight recorders from the DCIO arrived in Christchurch early this morning. They were brought from Antarctica on a Starlifter flight by the Minister of Energy (Mr Birch).