Government Holds Off on Sending Air India Crash Recorders Overseas for Analysis

The Ministry of Civil Aviation made an announcement on Thursday that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) multidisciplinary team, which is investigating the recent Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad, has completed the important recovery stage of its investigation.

This entails detailed documentation of the crash location and gathering of significant evidence, with work on analysis now underway.

To counter media reports that implied flight recorders, popularly referred to as black boxes, were to be shipped to the United States for the extraction of data, the ministry cleared the air.
"The choice of location for the decoding of the flight recorders will be made by the AAIB after careful consideration of all technical, safety, and security factors," the statement read, denying any preplanned intention of shipping them out.

According to the statement, investigators found one set of combined unit of the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) on June 13, and another unit on June 16.

Boeing 787 Dreamliners are both fitted with two black boxes—placed strategically at each end of the plane—to provide redundancy in recording data. While generally called "black," the devices are actually bright orange to improve visibility following accidents. They each hold an Enhanced Airborne Data Recorder (EADR), which combines both the CVR and DFDR.

The authorities indicated that such devices record a wide range of information, including not only cockpit conversations but also precise logs of pilot movements—like button depressions, lever moves, and instrument adjustments—giving essential details of the plane's last moments.

The doomed London-bound flight had 242 passengers, which included 12 crew members. Passengers consisted of 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. The plane crashed minutes after departure from Ahmedabad in a devastating loss of life. One person survived, and that was British national Viswash Kumar Ramesh. The crash also killed at least 30 people on the ground as it hit residential houses.

Reiterating its commitment to conducting a rigorous and open investigation, the ministry said all measures would be taken under normal protocols and international safety standards. The priority, it said, continues to lie firmly with guaranteeing maximum standards of passenger safety and operational responsibility.