Air India plane crash: India to send black box to US: Report

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, June 19, 2025: India will send the black box recovered from the recent fatally crashed Air India plane to the US for analysis, Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing people aware of the development.

"The recorder sustained heavy external damage from post-crash fire making it impossible to extract data in India," the ET report said, citing people aware of the development.

However, the Director General of India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), GVG Yugandhar, in an emailed response to Reuters said the report was "factually incorrect" without elaborating further.

Air India declined comment.

Indian authorities are investigating the crash of an Air India Boeing Dreamliner, which last week killed 241 people on board and at least 30 on the ground, marking the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.

The black box consists of two components - the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (CVR). It provides crucial insights for crash investigators, including altitude and airspeed data and pilot conversation records that help determine probable causes of crashes.

Data from the flight data recorder will be extracted at the Washington-based laboratory of the National Transportation Safety Board and shared with AAIB, the ET report added, citing sources. The NTSB did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

United Kingdom’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch will also be present at the laboratory, the report added. The government agency did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.