NEW DELHI, June 26: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has begun the process of extracting and analyzing data from the black boxes recovered from the crash site of Air India Flight AI-171.
Following the June 12 crash, the AAIB swiftly constituted a multidisciplinary investigation team in line with the norms outlined under ICAO Annex 13 and the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. India, as a signatory to the Chicago Convention, is conducting the investigation in compliance with international protocols. The team includes the Director General of AAIB, a specialist in aviation medicine, an air traffic control officer, and representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as required since the aircraft was manufactured and designed in the United States.
The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) were recovered in separate operations—one on June 13 from a rooftop at the crash site and the other on June 16 from the debris. Both devices were stored under 24×7 police guard and CCTV surveillance in Ahmedabad.
On June 24, they were airlifted to Delhi via Indian Air Force aircraft. The CVR arrived at the AAIB laboratory with the Director General at 2:00 PM, followed by the FDR at 5:15 PM, brought by a second AAIB team.
Later that day, the technical team began the process of extracting data from the crash-hardened memory modules. The Crash Protection Module from the front black box was successfully retrieved, and the data from its memory unit was downloaded on June 25.
Officials have clarified that the analysis of the CVR and FDR data is currently underway, with the aim of reconstructing the timeline and identifying factors that may have contributed to the crash.
