Experts have decoded the black box of the plane that was found missing one of its two front landing-wheels after landing in Da Nang on October 21 but found no strange signs from the device, airline authorities reported.

>> Black box may explain cause of plane’s lost wheel >> VNA looking for lost wheel, seeking information from France >> VNA plane missing front wheel after landing Lai Xuan Thanh, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) on Thursday told Tuoi Tre that the decoding of the ATR-72 plane of Vietnam Airlines had been completed and indicated no problems had occurred during the flight of the plane from northern Hai Phong City to central Da Nang city that day. However, the decoding has helped investigators discover the exact times at which the plane opened and closed its landing wheels. From those times, investigators can pinpoint the areas where the loss of the wheel may have occured, Thanh said. The information has helped staff focus their effort on the search for the lost wheel, which has been conducted during the past several days. However, by yesterday evening they were yet to find it, Thanh said, adding that the search will continue today, October 25. It is expected that today, the plane in question will be fixed with a new shaft to which the two front wheels of the plane are fixed. The damaged shaft will be sent to France for examination, Thang said. Specifically, the damaged part will be sent to BEA (Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile), the French authority responsible for safety investigations into accidents or incidents in civil aviation, he added. As previously reported, the aircraft took off from Cat Bi Airport in the northern city of Hai Phong at 12:45 pm and landed in central Da Nang City at 2:15 on schedule on October 21. After all 41 passengers and the crew had left the aircraft, airport technicians carried out a routine examination and found that it had lost one of its two front wheels. Further examination showed that the aircraft’s front shaft had been broken on one side, causing the loss of the wheel. The incident is classified at D (serious) level, so it must be fully investigated for authorities to come to a clear conclusion regarding the cause of the missing wheel, said Dinh Viet Thang, deputy head of CAAV.

The result of the investigation will be reported to the International Aviation Airlines Administration, which in turn will issue precautions for purpose of prevention on a global basis, he said.