Black Box

The Air India Express plane, en route from Dubai, skidded off the runway during bad weather before breaking in two while landing at Kozhikode airport.

There were 190 people on board the flight and one official said it was a "miracle" the toll was not higher.

It is still India's worst passenger air crash in a decade.

The flight was repatriating Indians stranded by the coronavirus crisis. First responders to the crash have been asked to go into quarantine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "pained" by the accident.

The Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 went down just minutes after taking off from Tehran's airport, leaving no survivors.

Under global aviation rules, Iran has the right to lead the investigation.

But manufacturers are typically involved and experts say few countries are capable of analysing black boxes.

The crash came at a time of high tensions between Iran and the US and just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two air bases housing US forces in Iraq. There is no evidence the two events are linked.

The Recorders will be transported to Port Moresby's AIC laboratory for data downloading and analysis.

Minister Manasseh further stated that the aircraft is on the seabed 30 meters below the surface of the Chuuk Lagoon.

“Due to the contamination of the water from leaking aircraft fuel, the search of the aircraft had been delayed until the contamination dispersed to a level safe for the divers.”

The diving will continue on Wednesday to recover the Cockpit voice recorder and other recording devices from the aircraft.