Ahmedabad plane crash: Govt says data extraction from black boxes underway

The government on Thursday said a multi-disciplinary team, headed by the chief of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), is probing the Ahmedabad plane crash and data is being extracted from the black boxes of the aircraft.

Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft enroute to London Gatwick crashed into a medical hostel complex soon after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing over 270 people, including 241 people who were onboard the plane.

"Following the unfortunate accident involving Air India Flight AI-171, the AAIB promptly initiated an investigation and constituted a multidisciplinary team on 13 June 2025, in line with prescribed norms.

"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 civil aviation ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry also said on June 24 evening, the team led by AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar 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 analysis of CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) and FDR (Flight Data Recorder) 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," the statement added.