36 seconds to disaster for Ahmedabad plane crash: ‘Mayday' call from black box may reveal why AI171 crashed
Indian investigators have recovered the
cockpit voice recorder
from the wreckage of
Air India flight AI171
, days after the London-bound plane crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport, killing at least 279 people. The second black box was found on Sunday, three days after the crash. The first, containing the flight data recorder, was located within 28 hours of the disaster.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lost thrust just 36 seconds after departure and plunged into residential buildings on the airport's periphery, leaving widespread devastation. Most victims were passengers; 33 others died on the ground. Only one person survived: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national.
'Mayday, mayday… no power': voice data to confirm pilot's final call
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) now in investigators' hands will provide crucial audio from the final moments of the flight. It records what the captain and first officer said to each other and to air traffic control, including ambient cockpit noise such as alarms and engine sounds.
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The Civil Aviation Ministry earlier confirmed a distress message was sent seconds before the crash. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal is believed to have said: 'Mayday, mayday…' with reports suggesting he also added '… no power… no thrust…'.
That phrase, if confirmed, could shift focus squarely onto the aircraft's twin engines. A range of theories have already emerged – from electrical failure to a dual bird strike – but investigators say they're not speculating until CVR and flight data are analysed.
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Final seconds under the microscope
AI171 took off at 1.39pm local time. Thirty-six seconds later, it was down.
Authorities now hope the CVR will help pinpoint the exact millisecond the mayday call was made. This, combined with flight parameters from the first black box, will help them reconstruct the plane's climb and rapid descent, second by second.
The critical questions remain: was the mechanical failure already present before take-off? Did the pilots detect anything during taxi or rotation? Or did the issue emerge after the plane was airborne, catching the crew off guard?
Investigators are also reviewing communications with Ahmedabad ATC. These conversations, recorded in the CVR, will help assess how much time the pilots had and whether air traffic control was alerted soon enough to assist.
Grief and delays for victims' families
As of Monday, relatives of the victims were still awaiting DNA results to identify remains. Only 80 of the deceased had been formally identified by Sunday, according to Dr Rajnish Patel at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
'This is a meticulous and slow process, so it has to be done meticulously only,' said Patel.
Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother died in the crash, expressed frustration: 'They said it would take 48 hours. But it's been four days and we haven't received any response. My brother was the sole breadwinner of the family. So what happens next?' he told AFP.
In some cases, officials have advised families not to open the coffins. One coffin was draped with the Indian flag and carried through Ahmedabad by soldiers. The deceased was a former chief minister of Gujarat and a senior member of the ruling party.
International response and airline under scrutiny
The crash was the first involving a Boeing 787. Though Air India was told to conduct additional checks across its fleet of 33 Dreamliners, over 1,000 of the aircraft remain in active service globally.
Air India, now owned by Tata Group, is facing increased scrutiny. The airline has been trying to modernise an ageing fleet and improve safety.
N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, addressed nearly 700 staff at Air India's Delhi headquarters on Monday. He called the crash 'the most heartbreaking crisis of [his] career', and added: 'We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline.'
'We need to wait for the investigation… It's a complex machine, so a lot of redundancies, checks and balances, certifications, which have been perfected over years and years. Yet this happens, so we will figure out why it happens after the investigation.'
Fresh scare prompts precautionary landing
On Monday, an Air India 787 flying from Hong Kong to New Delhi turned back shortly after take-off due to a suspected technical fault. Flight AI315 landed safely in Hong Kong at 1.15pm local time. It was undergoing checks at the time of this report, according to a source who spoke to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Boeing has scaled back its presence at the Paris Air Show. CEO Kelly Ortberg cancelled his visit, and the company called off a media reception. A team from Boeing has been sent to Ahmedabad to support the ongoing investigation.
With both black boxes recovered, investigators from India, the UK and the US now face the painstaking task of analysing thousands of data points and audio cues.
Their work could take weeks.
But families are desperate for answers. And a nation – shaken by one of the deadliest aviation disasters in its history – is watching, and waiting.
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