KARACHI: The process of 'Black Box' decoding of ill-fated flight PK 8303 of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has started in the presence of president Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board (AAIB) Air Commodore Muhammad Usman Ghani in France.

The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), an agency of French government, confirmed through its twitter handler that PIA and AAIB officials had arrived in France on June 2, 2020 along with Black box comprises 'Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR)'. The bureau further stated that the PIA officials and president AAIB Air Commodore Muhammad Usman Ghani along with other members held a meeting with the officials of BEA, Airbus and CFM International (engine manufacturer) on Wednesday.

Furthermore, the bureau stated that the technical work (decoding of black box of the aircraft, registration number AP-BLD, manufacturer serial number 2274) has started in BEA lab in the presence of president AAIB. The aircraft had logged around 47100 flights hours and 25860 flight cycles till May 22, 2020 and it was powered by CFM56-5B4/P engines.

Earlier, the 11-member investigation team of Airbus Company arrived in Pakistan, three days after the air crash that killed 97 persons in Karachi and provided its assistance to the AAIB in crash investigation.

The Airbus Company under the guidelines of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is providing full technical assistance to the BEA and to PIA in charge investigation. Therefore, the process of 'Black Box' decoding of ill-fated flight PK 8303 of PIA has started in the presence of president AAIB.