The black box (CVR and FDR) of the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed immediately after the take-off in Ahmedabad yesterday has been found.
The crash resistant device which records vital data in an aircraft was found on the roof of the doctors' hostel that was hit by the aircraft.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu shared the update on X, posting:
“The Flight Data Recorder (Black Box) has been recovered within 28 hours from the accident site in Ahmedabad by AAIB. This marks an important step forward in the investigation. This will significantly aid the enquiry into the incident.”
A large team of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) assisted by 40 personnel from the Gujarat government found the digital flight data recorder (DFDR), or black box.
At least 265 bodies have been found at the site of the crash of a London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner passenger airplane in Ahmedabad.
Miraculously, a 40-year-old British national of Indian origin Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is the sole survivor of Air India Flight AI171, the Boeing 787-8 plane that crashed on June 12, 2025.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed, after lifting barely 100 meters from the ground.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai said that 265 bodies had been counted so far, which suggested that at least 24 people were killed on the ground. The toll could rise further as more body parts are recovered.
"The official number of deceased will be declared only after DNA testing is completed," Home Minister Amit Shah said in a statement late on Thursday. DNA samples will be taken from family members of the dead who live abroad, he said.
Ahmedabad, the main city in India's Gujarat state, is home to around eight million people and its busy airport is surrounded by densely packed residential areas.
Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood "ready to support them" over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Acting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Chris Rocheleau also made the remarks at a news conference after seeing videos of the crash in India.
Duffy stressed he had spoken to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy. Duffy said an NTSB and FAA team, backed by Boeing and engine manufacturer GE Aerospace, was going to India to help Air India with the investigation.
The United Kingdom and United States air accident investigation agencies announced they were sending teams to support their Indian counterparts.
Indian conglomerate Tata Sons won the bidding process and took over Air India in the 2022, returning the debt-saddled carrier to private ownership after decades of government control.
It has pledged to support families who lost their loved ones financially, cover the medical costs for those injured, and help rebuild the medical college hostel.
The Tata Group has offered financial aid of 10 million rupees ($117,000) to "the families of each person who has lost their life in this tragedy," as well as funds to cover medical expenses of those injured.
After the Air India AI-171 Ahmedabad plane crash, the Indian Civil Aviation regulator DGCA has directed Enhanced safety inspections of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 fleet.
Talking about aviation accidents in India, the South Asian country has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people.
In the year 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board.
India's Civil Aviation industry has boomed due to air travel demand in recent years, with Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), last month calling it "nothing short of phenomenal."
The growth story of its economy has made India the world's fourth-largest air travel market, domestic and international, with the IATA projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade, after the US and China.
