Hyderabad, Sep 4 - The black box of the ill-fated Bell 430 helicopter that crashed killing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and four others has been recovered, officials said Friday.

The black box or cockpit voice recorder was recovered from Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district, where the helicopter crashed Wednesday.

The anti-Maoist Greyhounds force, which found the black box during search operations in the area, handed it over to a team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which began a probe into the crash.

'The black box is expected to help in the investigations to know the cause of crash. The team has taken it to Delhi to retrieve the messages. The investigators will know what were the last messages given by the pilots before the crash,' said Lakshmikant, revenue divisional officer in Atmakur in Kurnool district.