Black box analysis underway in crash

New Delhi

The Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed on Thursday that the data extraction from the black boxes of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, is currently in progress. The crash claimed 270 lives, including all 241 passengers onboard.

According to the Ministry, a multi-disciplinary team led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) began retrieving and analyzing data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) on June 24. The Crash Protection Module from the front black box was safely accessed, and its memory was downloaded the following day at the newly inaugurated AAIB Lab in Delhi.

The investigation team includes an aviation medicine specialist, an Air Traffic Control officer, and representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in line with international norms. Both black boxes were recovered within a week of the incident—one from a rooftop and the other from the crash debris.

The Ministry emphasized that all procedures have followed domestic regulations and ICAO standards. The recovered devices were transported securely from Ahmedabad to Delhi under 24/7 police protection and CCTV surveillance. While analysis of the CVR and FDR is ongoing, the government aims to reconstruct the flight’s final moments and determine the causes of the crash. The probe’s findings will contribute to enhancing aviation safety and preventing similar tragedies in the future.