Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 26: Making a headway in investigating the causes for the crash of the London-bound Air India flight from Ahmedabad on June 12, Information from the front black box has been successfully downloaded and is being analysed, the government said on Thursday.
What is more, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has succeeded in safely extracting the Crash Protection Module (CPM) and the memory module, and downloaded the data. The black boxes – a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were said to have been damaged in the crash and there were questions over the recovery of usable data.
On June 24, the Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu had said the black box of the Air India plane was being examined by the AAIB and ad dismissed the speculation that the lack boxes may have to be send to the United States for data retrieval.
The two black boxes from Air India Flight 171, involved in the tragic crash were transported to New Delhi headquarter of the air accidents investigating agency from Ahmedabad 13 days after the first one was retrieved and eight days after the recovery of the second one.
The government said both boxes – one found on the rooftop of the hostel into which the plane crashed and the other from the debris – were securely transported to the AAIB lab in Delhi on Tuesday. Data extraction from both sets of black boxes has been completed, and its analysis is now underway, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a press statement on Thursday.
“The analysis of CVR [cockpit voice recorder] and FDR [flight data recorder] data is underway,” the statement said adding that the CPM from the front black box was safely retrieved, and on 25 June, 2025, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab. Experts inferred that this would mean that the black box data was not damaged in the crash.
The CVR data is expected to shed light on cockpit conversations, crew responses, and ambient sounds, while the FDR contains parameters like altitude, airspeed, flight control inputs, and engine performance. “Analysis of CVR and FDR data underway. These efforts aim to reconstruct sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety,” the government said.
The Civil Aviation Ministry said a distress call had been broadcast seconds before impact. ‘Mayday, mayday…’ was what Captain Sabharwal reportedly told Ahmedabad ATC. There were also reports Captain Sabharwal had flagged the loss of power and thrust as well. CVR data should reveal if he did, indeed, also say ‘… no power… no thrust…’, which will be a key piece of evidence pushing investigators to focus on the engine as the cause for the crash.
However, more than two weeks since the crash the AAIB is yet to constitute an investigation team, distinct from its “GO Team,” the first responder team formed on the day of the crash led by its DG, Group Captain GVG Yugandhar. “The black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on 24 June, 2025,” the press statement said.
Following questions on why the AAIB had not issued a public order announcing the composition of a probe panel and the specialisation of each of the members even as it maintained that the probe started on the day of the crash, the Ministry statement said that a “multidisciplinary team” was constituted on June 13. The team is led by DG AAIB, and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an ATC officer and representatives from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The same team was earlier described as a GO Team, which is only a first responder team sent to secure the evidence that needs to be handed over to the investigators appointed by the DG of AAIB.
The London-bound Air India flight crashed into a medical college hostel complex in Ahmedabad civil hospital complex seconds after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 275 persons, 241 on board, and 34 on the ground, including some medical students. Only one passenger survived. The black box of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane was recovered from the site on June 13.
Meanwhile, Air India sources on Thursday said Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson were in contact with the families of the victims of the plane crash. Chandrasekaran referred to all affected families as ‘Tata family’ and directed his team to provide support to them beyond the compensation announced, sources said.
Chandrasekaran has also directed the Air India management to hold meetings with employee unions of the airline and take their feedback about on-ground operations and draw plans to have smoother and hassle-free operations. The entire management of Air India was also asked to hold talks with the aircraft engineering department on any issues they face in the maintenance of the aircraft.
Chandrasekaran was also expected to be briefed on the health audit of Air India planes, as ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The Air India management is also likely to hold a meeting with the Boeing team on Thursday. Following the incident, a high-level panel was set up to investigate the causes of the crash, and the investigation is progressing smoothly, the government said after the incident.
Earlier, Campbell Wilson, in a message to flyers, said the crashed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was “well-maintained” and had undergone a major check in June 2023, with the next scheduled for December this year.
He also acknowledged that the airline’s decision to temporarily curtail its wide-body fleet operations by 15 per cent may have an impact on its customers’ travel plans. On June 13, a day after the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ordered enhanced surveillance of Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet, comprising 26 787-8s and seven 787-9s.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary committee is expected to convene next week to discuss safety issues in the civil aviation sector, including aircraft maintenance concerns. Government officials, airline reps, and Boeing executives have been summoned and are expected to face tough questions, sources said.
