Black box from Air India crash 'damaged', may be sent to US for data extraction

The black box from the Air India Boeing 787 that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12 has sustained "damage" and may need to be sent to the United States for further data extraction, Indian media reported on Thursday.

The final decision, however, on whether to send the device abroad rests with the Indian government, NDTV reported, quoting official sources.

If approved, the black box could be flown to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) headquarters in Washington, DC.

A team of Indian officials is expected to accompany the device to ensure that all safety and procedural protocols are strictly followed.

Two components

The so-called "black box" is actually made up of two critical components: the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR).

Their contents will be critical in piecing together the events that led to the tragic Flight AI-171 incident, providing invaluable insights for accident prevention in the future.

Together, they store vital information including flight speed, altitude, engine performance, and cockpit audio — such as conversations between the pilots and air traffic controllers.

These recordings are essential for reconstructing the final moments of a flight and understanding the cause of aviation accidents.

The black box from Flight AI-171 were recovered from the crash site, on the roof of a doctors’ hostel that was struck by the aircraft during the crash.

It was recovered by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) with the assistance of 40 personnel from the Gujarat state government.

Given the extent of the crash — the worst in India in recent memory — the data within the black box is expected to be key in determining what went wrong.

The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar at the time of the crash.

On board were 169 Indian nationals, along with 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian citizen, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The potential involvement of the US NTSB in analyzing the damaged recorders highlights the complexity and seriousness of the investigation.

Officials hope that the retrieved data will offer crucial insights into what caused the tragedy, and help prevent similar accidents in the future.