Indian Authorities Extract Black Box Data from Air India Crash

• Data successfully retrieved from the black box.
• Analysis of the CVR and FDR may unveil crucial details about the incident.
• The investigation into the Air India crash is examining engine thrust.

On Thursday, India’s civil aviation ministry announced that investigators have successfully downloaded flight recorder data from the tragic Air India crash this month, which resulted in the deaths of 260 individuals. This significant step is part of efforts to understand what is being termed the worst aviation disaster globally in the last decade.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, headed for London, met with disaster shortly after departing from Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, claiming the lives of 241 out of 242 people on board and additional casualties on the ground.

The aircraft’s black boxes, including the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR), were retrieved shortly after the incident: one was found on a building’s rooftop on June 13 and the other from the wreckage on June 16.

A team led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), along with officials from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), accessed data from the CVR on Wednesday. The ministry stated, “These efforts are aimed at piecing together the sequence of events leading to the accident and identifying any contributing factors to improve aviation safety and prevent future occurrences.”

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, expressed hope that the Indian government would quickly share details from the crash investigation with the public. “For the sake of aviation safety and public awareness, we hope to see their findings released in a timely manner,” she commented during an aviation event on Thursday.

Homendy pointed out that the NTSB team has been collaborating closely with the Indian authorities and AAIB, and she commended their cooperation.

Sources indicate that the investigation, which began after the Air India plane started descending at an altitude of 650 feet, is looking closely at the engine’s thrust. Reports have emerged that investigators believe the Dreamliner had its emergency-power generator operational at the time of the crash.

Typically, multiple factors contribute to air crashes, and a preliminary report is anticipated about 30 days following the accident.

Boeing 787 aircraft are equipped with two GE recorders—one at the front and one at the rear—that capture the same flight data. General Electric, which provided the engines for the Air India plane, has dispatched experts to assist in the investigation. The forward recorder has a separate power supply that can provide backup power for approximately 10 minutes in the event of a loss of the plane’s main power source, according to a 2014 NTSB report.

The decision to begin downloading the recorder’s data around two weeks post-accident has been seen as unusually delayed, especially since there was speculation that the black boxes might be sent to the U.S. for analysis.

US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse remarked that typically, countries acknowledge that the international community is watching closely and would be proactive about providing updates on the status of the recorders and initiating data downloads following such a high-profile crash.

India has clarified that its actions in this investigation fully comply with both domestic and international regulations and has been conducted in a timely manner.