Air India crash: Black box flown to Delhi, decoding process underway
The black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on 24 June 2025
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has begun analysing the black box data recovered from the crash site of Air India Flight AI171, which crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad on 12 June, the government said today (26 June).
As part of a formal investigation launched in line with international protocols, both the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) were recovered from the Ahmedabad crash site—one from a rooftop on 13 June and the other from the debris on 16 June—and were flown to Delhi.
The AAIB, which is the designated authority for such investigations, is currently conducting the investigation into the crash, the government assured.
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On Thursday, the government stated that the devices (CVR and FDR) were secured under round-the-clock police protection and CCTV surveillance before being airlifted to Delhi by Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on 24 June.
"The black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on 24 June 2025. The front black box arrived at the AAIB lab in Delhi with the director general (DG) of AAIB at 1400 hrs on 24 June 2025," it stated.
"The rear black box was brought by a second AAIB team and reached the AAIB lab in Delhi at 1715 hrs on 24 June," it added.
A statement issued by the government also confirmed that data extraction began the same evening at the AAIB lab in Delhi, and the memory module was accessed.
"On the evening of 24 June 2025, the team led by the DG of AAIB, along with technical members from AAIB and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), began the data extraction process. The Crash Protection Module (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," the statement read.
The AAIB initiated an investigation and constituted a multidisciplinary team on 13 June, in accordance with prescribed norms, it said.
The team investigating the black box was formed in line with international standards and is led by the director general of AAIB, along with technical experts from AAIB, the US NTSB, an aviation medicine specialist, and an air traffic control (ATC) officer, as per International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules, the government clarified.
By 25 June, data from the CVR's memory module had been successfully retrieved, it said.
Analysis of the CVR and FDR data is currently underway, the government added, noting that the efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and to identify contributing factors in order to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences.
India, as a signatory to the Chicago Convention (1944) of the ICAO, investigates aircraft accidents in accordance with ICAO Annex 13 and the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules 2017.
"All actions have been taken in full compliance with domestic laws and international obligations in a time-bound manner," the government concluded.
