Investigation team presents initial findings on Air India accident that resulted in 260 fatalities: Report

 The team examining the Ahmedabad Air India plane crash has delivered its initial report to the civil aviation ministry, as reported by news agency, citing sources. The conclusion reached by the investigators of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau regarding the crash that led to the deaths of 260 individuals remains unknown.

An Air India flight heading to London went down into a hostel complex in Meghaninagar shortly after its departure from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on June 12, resulting in the deaths of 241 passengers and several others on the ground. A passenger astonishingly lived through it.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation reported that the Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was retrieved without incident, and on June 25, 2025, the memory module was accessed successfully, and its data was downloaded at the AAIB Lab. Sources informed ANI that a replica black box—referred to as a “golden chassis”—was utilized to confirm the effective retrieval of the data. A black box was located on the rooftop of a building at the crash site on June 13, with the second one being recovered from the debris on June 16.

The inquiry is being conducted by AAIB officials and involves technical specialists from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which represents the nation where the aircraft was conceived and built.

The investigation is under the supervision of the AAIB’s Director General. The team of investigators also comprises an aviation medicine expert and an officer from Air Traffic Control. Sources have verified that the NTSB team is presently stationed in Delhi and collaborating closely with Indian officials at the AAIB Lab. Officials from Boeing and GE are also present in the capital to assist with the technical evaluation.

Historically, black boxes from aircraft accidents in India were commonly sent to foreign countries like the UK, USA, France, Italy, Canada, and Russia for decoding. India did not have the necessary infrastructure to examine black box data from significant domestic crashes. This has changed with the creation of a fully equipped AAIB Lab in Delhi, which now has the capability to decode both Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR) domestically.