Ahmedabad plane crash | Doomed AI-171's black box damaged, may be sent abroad for probe: Report

The black box from the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12 has sustained damage and may need to be sent to the United States for further data extraction, media reports have claimed. The final decision will be made by the Indian government.

Technically comprising two separate devices - the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR)—the black box from Flight AI171 could be flown to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) headquarters in Washington, DC for analysis. Sources added that if the data is sent abroad, Indian officials will accompany the equipment to ensure compliance with all protocols.

The flight, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed moments after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. At 1:40 pm local time, the aircraft plunged into a medical college hostel complex in Ahmedabad’s Meghani Nagar area, triggering a massive fire. Of the 242 people on board, only one passenger survived.

Why black box data is crucial

The black box was recovered 28 hours after the crash. Despite its name, the device is painted bright orange to aid in recovery from debris. The CVR on this particular aircraft, delivered in 2014, likely stores only two hours of audio, as it predates the 2021 mandate for 25-hour cockpit recordings.

It captures cockpit conversations, ambient sounds, air traffic control exchanges, and alert tones. The FDR, meanwhile, logs vital flight data, including altitude, airspeed, heading, and control surface inputs. In modern aircraft like the Boeing 787-8, it can record thousands of parameters for over 25 hours.

Ahmedabad plane crash

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Flight AI171 took off at 1:39 pm on June 12. The aircraft climbed to less than 600 feet before the ascent stalled. Thirty-six seconds into the flight, the cockpit issued a distress call, which was received by Ahmedabad Air Traffic Control (ATC). This was followed by complete radio silence.

Moments later, the aircraft crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex near the airport's northeastern boundary. The crash killed 33 people on the ground and all but one of the passengers on board. The sole survivor was a British-Indian man seated in 11A.