Authorities have recovered a black box from the wreckage of Air India Flight AI-171, which crashed minutes after departing Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday, two police sources told Reuters.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London Gatwick, carried 242 people, with 241 fatalities reported. A single passenger, seated in 11A, survived and is under medical care.
The black box is expected to provide crucial insights into the pilots’ Mayday call and the sequence of events leading to the disaster. Black boxes, built to withstand extreme conditions like fire, explosions, and high-pressure impacts, consist of a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
The FDR captures technical metrics such as altitude, speed, engine performance, and flight trajectory, while the CVR records cockpit conversations and ambient sounds, offering a window into the moments before the crash.
On Friday, rescue teams continued their grim task of searching for missing persons and aircraft fragments amid scorched buildings in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area. The flight, with 232 passengers and 10 crew members, crashed into a medical college hostel during lunch hour, killing 24 people on the ground, according to local media reports.
CCTV footage captured the plane vanishing after take-off, followed by a massive fireball. Rescue operations at the primary crash site have concluded, but efforts persist to locate additional victims, remains, and aircraft components that could clarify the cause of the sudden crash.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site in Gujarat, his home state, on Friday, receiving updates on rescue efforts and meeting injured survivors in hospital. “The devastation here is heart-wrenching,” he posted on X.
Local residents noted that the doctors’ hostel, built just a year ago, was not fully occupied, potentially reducing the ground toll. Debris, including parts of the plane’s fuselage, littered the smouldering site, with the aircraft’s tail lodged atop the hostel building.
The incident marks the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since its commercial introduction in 2011, per the Aviation Safety Network database.
Meanwhile, reports also suggested that authorities are actively searching for the second black box, which could further illuminate the tragedy’s cause.
Ahmedabad Fire Brigade officials confirmed that a specialised team, equipped with tools like metal cutters, is combing the wreckage in Meghaninagar.
“Efforts to locate the black box are ongoing,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Kanan Desai told PTI, dismissing reports of a digital video recorder being found.