Air India Crash: Damaged Black Box To Be Sent To USA After Rs 9 Crore Indian Lab Fails To Retrieve Data
The center is sending the ill-fated Air India flight AI171’s black box to the US for examination. The flight recorder allegedly suffered heavy damage from the crash that killed all except one out of the 242 souls on board.
The Digital Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were sent to India’s newly inaugurated state-of-the-art lab at AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) in New Delhi. The Rs 9 crore laboratory spectacularly failed at the very first task it was designed to.
Inaugurated in April by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, the laboratory was built with technical support from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Per the report, the AAIB experts attempted to retrieve the data; however, they were unsuccessful owing to the extent of damage to the sophisticated equipment.
The black box of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will now be flown to the US to be examined at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch will also be involved in the investigation, as 53 British nationals were killed in the flight. Built to withstand high-impact crashes of up to 3400 g and high temperatures of over 1000 degree celsius, the extremely sensitive black box device is located at the tail section of the aircraft.
India to send damaged black box of crashed Air India 787 aircraft to US for data recoveryhttps://t.co/AK2sPi6es6
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) June 19, 2025
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Reactions poured in over the country’s inability to investigate the black box despite the newly built laboratory for the same. One user took a jibe, “The 4th largest economy can’t analyze Black Box within the country??” Another user remarked, “Gajab ka vikaas ho raha hai.”
This. In 2025. pic.twitter.com/7Ls2bD3vAS
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) June 19, 2025
The 04th largest economy can’t analyse Black Box within the country?? pic.twitter.com/YyaelF329g
— Mini Nair (@minicnair) June 19, 2025
ग़ज़ब का विकास हो रहा है! pic.twitter.com/kis2Y2h9Po
— Ashok Kumar Pandey अशोक اشوک (@Ashok_Kashmir) June 19, 2025
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Cover: Patrick Gawande / Mashable India
