India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has successfully extracted 49 hours of flight data from the black box of the Air India Boeing 787‑8 aircraft that crashed in Ahmedabad on 12 June. The extraction was made possible using a specialized American device called the “Golden Chassis,” supplied by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The crash claimed the lives of 260 people, including 241 passengers. On 24 June, both black boxes were brought to AAIB’s Delhi lab. The forward black box, known as the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR), was found in relatively good condition. Investigators removed its Crash Protection Module (CPM) and mounted it on the Golden Chassis to extract raw data, which included details of six flights — including the fatal one.
Approximately two hours of cockpit voice recordings were also recovered, including audio from the time of the crash. Preliminary analysis of the data is now complete, and the information is expected to provide critical insights into the sequence of events that led to the disaster.
However, the rear black box was severely damaged. Traditional methods failed to retrieve data, and the internal CPM showed extensive destruction.
The AAIB has appointed Sanjay Kumar Singh as the lead investigator and Jasbir Singh Larha as the principal investigator. The team also includes experts such as Vipin Venu Varkoth, Veeraraghavan K., and Vaishnav Vijaykumar, along with experienced pilots, engineers, aviation psychologists, and recorder specialists to ensure a thorough examination of all factors behind the incident.
