Air India Crash: Black Box Data Successfully Retrieved, Probe Underway To Determine Cause Of Tragedy

In a major breakthrough, the Civil Aviation Ministry announced on Thursday that it had successfully recovered, downloaded, and begun analysing data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) - both vital to understanding the cause of the 12 June Air India crash that claimed 275 lives.

The black box from flight AI 171 was transported from Ahmedabad to Delhi on 24 June.

Photo Credit: PTI

The analysis is being conducted with the aim of reconstructing the sequence of events that led to the tragedy, identifying contributing factors, and ultimately improving aviation safety to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

The memory module was accessed and its data downloaded at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) laboratory, which operates under the crash investigation division of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry.

Additionally, the Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the forward black box was also safely recovered. Its memory unit was accessed and the data extracted on 25 June.

On Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed that the black box remains in India and is being examined by the AAIB.

His statement followed earlier reports suggesting that the black box may have been sent to the United States for data recovery due to severe damage caused by fire in the aftermath of the crash.

The heat at the crash site was reported to have reached approximately 1,000 degrees Celsius, which may explain the extensive damage to the black box - even though it is built to withstand extreme conditions.

The AAIB, tasked with completing its investigation within three months, recovered both the CVR and FDR two days after the crash.

Together, these recorders - known collectively as the "black box" - are expected to provide critical insight into the moments leading up to the fatal incident.

The CVR records cockpit audio, including pilot conversations, while the FDR captures technical flight data.

Although the exact cause of the crash is yet to be officially confirmed, one aviation expert has speculated that a dual engine failure could be to blame.

In an interview with India Today, former US Navy pilot Captain Steve Scheibner pointed to the early deployment of the ram air turbine (RAT) after take-off as a possible indication of both engines failing.