The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a comprehensive analysis of the black box data from Air India Flight AI171, which crashed just 30 seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. The crash, which claimed 241 lives onboard and 19 on the ground, left only one survivor and sent shockwaves across the aviation sector.
The government confirmed on Thursday that both the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) were recovered from the wreckage—one found on a rooftop on June 13, and the other from the debris on June 16. The devices were transported to Delhi with high-level security, including 24/7 police escort and CCTV surveillance throughout the journey.
On June 24, both recorders were airlifted by Indian Air Force aircraft and received at the AAIB’s Delhi laboratory—the CVR arriving at 2:00 PM, followed by the FDR at 5:15 PM. The data extraction process began that evening, overseen by a high-level technical team led by the Director General of AAIB, with support from specialists from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an aviation medicine expert, and an air traffic control officer. The investigation is being conducted under ICAO Annex 13 and India’s Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017.
By June 25, the memory module of the CVR had been successfully accessed, and its contents downloaded. The multidisciplinary team—formed on June 13—is now analyzing data from both recorders to reconstruct the timeline and determine the factors that led to the fatal crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Officials emphasized that the goal of the investigation is to improve aviation safety and ensure such tragedies are prevented in the future. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to full transparency and adherence to international protocols throughout the probe.