Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Aviation Ministry Releases Status Report On Data Recovery From Black Boxes

Two weeks after the Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, 2025, Government of India’s Ministry of Aviation has released a status report on recovery and examination of data from Black Boxes. The flight, which was en route to London Gatwick, struck a medical college hostel complex and killed at least 279 people, though estimates range from 265 to 279. This includes 241 of the 242 passengers and crew onboard—169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals, and 1 Canadian, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani—and 29 to 33 ground victims, mostly medical students and staff at BJ Medical College.

One passenger, Viswash Kumar Ramesh, survived and is recovering, while an additional death occurred when Gomti Parmar suffered a heart attack from grief.

India, the ministry said, as a signatory to the ICAO Chicago Convention (1944), investigates aircraft accidents in accordance with ICAO Annex 13 and the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is the designated authority for such investigations.

Following the accident, the AAIB initiated an investigation and constituted a multidisciplinary team on June 13, 2025, in line with prescribed norms, and the team, constituted as per international protocol, is led by DG AAIB, and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an ATC officer, and representatives from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which is government investigative agency from the state of manufacture and design, (USA), as required for such investigations, the ministry said.

It said both the Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR) were recovered—one from a rooftop of the building at the crash site on June 13, 2025 and the other from the debris on June 16, 2025. “Standard Operating Procedures were issued for their secure handling, storage, and transportation. The devices were kept under 24×7 police protection and CCTV surveillance in Ahmedabad,” the statement added.

Subsequently, the black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on June 24, 2025. The front black box arrived AAIB Lab, Delhi with the DG, AAIB at 1400 hrs on June 24, 2025. The rear black box was brought by a second AAIB team and reached AAIB Lab, Delhi at 1715 hrs on June 24, 2025.

“On the evening of June 24, 2025, the team led by DG AAIB with technical members from AAIB and 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 said.

The analysis of CVR and FDR data is underway. “These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences. All actions have been taken in full compliance with domestic laws and international obligations in a time bound manner,” it said