Investigators today recovered the crucial 'Black Box'--the Digital Flight Data Recorder(DFDR)- from the wreckage of the Boeing plane of Air India's budget carrier, three days after it crashed here while landing killing 158 persons. The data recorder, mounted in the aircraft's tail and which stores key information, could give vital clues on what caused the country's worst air crash in a decade last Saturday. The instrument, which will have data on a range of parameters and information on pilot's response, was damaged on one side but Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) officials said it was intact with the "main memory."

"Nothing has happened to the main portion where the main memory is located. It is intact ," DGCA officials said shortly after they made the breakthrough around 10 AM.