AAIB to decide on place for decoding black box of crashed AI plane: Centre

Mumbai: The government on Thursday said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will decide on the location of decoding the black box of Air India’s crashed Dreamliner.

A multi-disciplinary team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has commenced an investigation into the accident that killed around 270 people on June 12, it said.

Meanwhile, Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson, in a message to flyers, said the crashed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was “well-maintained” and had undergone a major check in June 2023 with the next scheduled for December this year.

He also acknowledged that the airline’s decision to temporarily curtail its wide-body fleet operations by 15 per cent may have an impact on its customers’ travel plans.

The London-bound Air India flight AI-171 carrying 242 passengers and crew members crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. All but one on board the plane died along with 29 on the ground when the aircraft smashed into a medical complex in the Meghaninagar area of the city shortly after its take-off.

The AAIB is probing the crash, and in addition to this, a high-level panel has been set up under the Home Secretary to investigate the causes of the plane crash.

The committee will submit its report in three months.

“A combined unit of the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) has been recovered from the crash site on June 13, 2025, and another set was found on June 16. This model of aircraft has two black box sets,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.

AAIB investigation is progressing steadily with all necessary support from local authorities and agencies, the ministry said, adding that key recovery work, including site documentation and evidence collection, has been completed, and further analysis is now underway.

“It has been reported in certain media outlets that the CVR/DFDR (black box) from the ill-fated AI171 flight is being sent abroad for retrieval and analysis...The decision regarding the location for decoding the flight recorders will be taken by the AAIB after due assessment of all technical, safety, and security considerations,” the statement said.

On June 13, a day after the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ordered enhanced surveillance of Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet, comprising 26 787-8s and seven 787-9s.

Wilson, in his message, said the crashed aircraft’s right engine was overhauled in March 2025, the left engine was inspected in April 2025, and the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight.

The airline and the entire aviation industry are awaiting the official investigation report to understand more, he added.

“Regrettably, the time required to perform these enhanced safety checks, along with the application of extra caution, external factors like airspace closures in Iran and the Middle East as well as night-time restrictions at some international airports, along with normal airline technical issues, has led to a higher-than-usual number of cancellations on our long-haul network in the past few days,” the Air India chief said in his message.

“We know these disruptions have been frustrating, and we’re truly sorry for the inconvenience. As a confidence-building measure, the airline has elected to continue enhanced pre-flight safety checks on its Boeing 787 fleet and, as an added measure, its Boeing 777 aircraft, for the time being.”

Given the time these additional checks will consume and the potential impact on schedules, Air India has decided to reduce its international wide-body flights by around 15 per cent starting June 20, through to at least mid-July, Wilson said.

“This will also allow us to have more backup aircraft ready to handle any unexpected issues. We understand that this temporary reduction to our schedule may affect your travel plans, and we’re deeply sorry for any inconvenience,” he said.

The airline chief said the loss of 241 passengers and crew members, along with 34 people on the ground, has “left us all in deep sorrow”.

“Words cannot express the pain we feel for the families and loved ones affected by this devastating event. We are fully committed to doing all we can to support the families impacted and are also working closely with authorities to understand the cause of this tragedy,” he said.