Black box of crashed Air India jet still in India, ANI reports

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FILE PHOTO: Members of Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

Members of the Indian army's engineering arm preparing to remove the wreckage of the Air India jet that crashed and killed 271 people in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12.

PHOTO: REUTERS

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  • India's civil aviation minister stated the Air India crash black box is in India and being examined by the AAIB.
  • A decision on decoding location will be made by the AAIB after assessing technical, safety and security considerations.
  • US NTSB chair declined to comment on the recorders' condition or decoding location, emphasising the importance of timely information for aviation safety.

AI generated

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON – The black box of the Air India jet that crashed and killed 271 people is still in India and is being examined by the aircraft accident investigation body, news agency ANI reported on June 24, citing Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.

Mr Naidu's comments came following a media report that the flight data recorder will be sent to the United States for analysis.

“Black box of the crashed AI 171 flight is still in India and it is being examined by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB),” he said, according to an ANI post on social media platform X.

The June 12 crash

in Ahmedabad, India, was the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

The Indian government said on June 19 that a decision on where the decoding of the recorders in the black box would take place would be made after the AAIB has made a “due assessment” of all technical, safety and security considerations.

US National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters in Washington on June 24 that she has had “excellent communication with those within the Indian government, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, also our counterpart at the AAIB”.

Asked where or when the recorders will be read or if they would come to the US or whether officials had any concerns, Ms Homendy declined to comment.

“That is something that has to be worked out,” she said. “When it comes to aviation safety, learning information shortly thereafter and obtaining that information is a key part of the investigative process. So clearly that’s going to help us glean more information to ensure: ‘Is there a safety issue or safety deficiency that needs to be addressed?’”

Ms Homendy also declined to comment on whether either recorder had been damaged. REUTERS

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