India will send the black box recovered from the Air India plane crash site in Ahmedabad to the United States for a detailed examination, reports said on Thursday.
They said the recorder had sustained heavy external damage from the post-crash fire, making it impossible to extract data in India.
The black box consists of two components—the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR). They provide crucial insights for crash investigators, including altitude and airspeed data and pilot conversation records that help determine probable causes of crashes.
Reports said a team of Indian officials will also accompany the black box to Washington, where the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will examine the recorder and share the extracted data with India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation into the crash, while the NTSB is also conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, as the aircraft is American-made.
Under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)’s Chicago Convention, India can also ask other countries to assist in the investigation or even call for ICAO to support if the country files an official request.
The London-bound Air India flight AI-171 (a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner) crashed into a doctors’ hostel minutes after taking off from the Ahmedabad International Airport on June 12, killing all but one of the 242 passengers on board. At least 30 people on the ground also lost their lives in the crash—one of the deadliest in aviation history.
The Centre has constituted a high-level committee under the Union home secretary to probe the mishap and formulate the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for preventing such occurrences in the future.
