AI-171 Black Box Analysis Underway, Govt Follows Global Protocols

NEW DELHI:
The Government of India confirmed on Thursday that a detailed analysis of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) from the ill-fated Air India Dreamliner Flight AI-171 is currently in progress, with every step aligned to both national regulations and international aviation standards.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, officials emphasized that all procedures involving the recovery and handling of the black boxes have been executed in strict adherence to established timelines and legal obligations.

Following the deadly crash of Air India’s Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad on June 12, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) initiated a full-scale probe on June 13. A specialized investigation team was assembled under the leadership of the AAIB Director General, including experts in aviation medicine, air traffic control, and representatives from the U.S.-based National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), given that the aircraft was manufactured in the United States.

The CVR was located on a building rooftop near the crash site on June 13, while the FDR was recovered from the wreckage on June 16. Both devices were placed under round-the-clock police guard and constant CCTV surveillance in Ahmedabad, following the Ministry’s standard operating protocols for high-value aviation evidence.

On June 24, the black boxes were flown securely to Delhi aboard an Indian Air Force aircraft. The front recorder arrived at the AAIB Laboratory at 2:00 PM with the Director General himself, while the rear unit was brought in separately by another team at 5:15 PM the same day.

Later that evening, technical experts from both the AAIB and NTSB began extracting and decoding the data. On June 25, the Crash Protection Module from the front recorder was accessed successfully, and its memory unit was downloaded without damage.

“The analysis phase is actively ongoing,” the Ministry stated. “The retrieved data will be instrumental in reconstructing the events leading up to the crash and identifying root causes to improve future flight safety.”

The tragic incident, which claimed the lives of nearly 270 people including passengers and crew, has sparked a nationwide re-evaluation of aviation safety measures. Preliminary inquiries by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have already uncovered recurring maintenance lapses at certain airports, where reported technical issues were found to resurface repeatedly after inspections.