Air India plane crash: Black box data downloaded, information likely in 10 days

Time of India

10 hours ago

NEW DELHI: Data from a black box of the Air India Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12 has been downloaded at Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau lab, govt said Thursday.
Intitial information about causes leading to the accident is likely to be known in the next seven to 10 days.
With the black boxes being examined locally, the final report is expected to be out in a month, instead of the six-month time frame given earlier, sources said. Civil aviation ministry said the crash protection module from the front black box was safely retrieved, and on Wednesday, the memory module was accessed.
While the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of AI-171 which crashed within minutes of take-off was recovered on June 13, the Flight Data Recorders (FDR) were found in the debris three days later. Like the earlier practice, this time too, there were plans to send the black boxes to the US for examination, especially as it involved the first Dreamliner crash. But on the suggestion of the top leadership, it was decided to send them to the AAIB lab, sources said.
As a result, the two were flown to Delhi in separate Indian Air Force planes last Tuesday.
"The analysis of CVR and FDR data is under way. These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences. All actions have been taken in full compliance with domestic laws and international obligations in a time-bound manner," the official statement said.
Information about the causes is being expected in record time, in less than a month, as this is the first example of the data of a plane that crashed in Indian territory being examined in the country's labs itself, said a senior official. The lab is compliant with international standards. A team of over 20 experts from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US, who arrived in Ahmedabad on June 13, are now in the Capital, examining the data with Indian experts.
The delay in announcing the composition of the team probing the AI-171 crash a fortnight after the accident has raised questions about the investigation. The govt statement defended the process followed.
"Following the unfortunate accident (on June 12), AAIB promptly initiated an investigation and constituted a multi-disciplinary team on June 13, 2025, in line with prescribed norms. The team, constituted as per international protocol, is led by DG AAIB, and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an air traffic control (ATC) officer, and representatives from NTSB which is the govt investigating agency from the state of manufacture and design (US), as required for such investigations," it said.
Apart from DG AAIB GVG Yugandhar, names of others on the probe panel have so far not been made public.