Mumbai, June 19: In the latest development in the Ahmedabad plane crash, it is learnt that India will send the black box of the crashed Air India Boeing 787 aircraft to the United States. Wonder why? Well, those close to the development revealed that the black box of the Air India Boeing 787 aircraft, which crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, will be sent to America for analysis. The black box is being sent to the US as the recorder sustained heavy external damage during the post-crash fire, thereby making it impossible to extract data in the country.

According to a report in Economic Times, the data from the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft will be extracted at a Washington-based laboratory of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Once extracted, the data will be shared with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India, as per international rules. India is sending the black box to the United States because the AAIB laboratory in Delhi is not fully equipped to extract data from recorders, which sustained heavy damage in Air India plane crash. Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Thai Singer James Ruangsak Loychusak Who Survived Thai Airways Flight TG261 Crash in 1998 Reveals Chilling Coincidence With Air India Crash Survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar.

A person involved in the process said, "The NTSB team will carry them to their lab under protection and supervision from Indian officials to ensure that proper protocols are followed." It is worth noting that in modern aircraft, there is a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and a Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), which are also called black boxes. As per the report, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom will also be present in the US during the extraction of data from the black box, as there were 53 British citizens among those killed in the Air India flight AI171 crash.

On Friday, June 13, the AAIB said that the black box of Air India's crashed Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft was recovered from the rooftop of the residential quarters of BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad. The person close to the development also said that the time to extract data from the flight recorder could range from two days to months, depending on the extent of damage. "Since the recorder has been damaged, the chip will need to be extracted by removing the memory board so that there is no further damage to data. The electronic circuit will also have to be assessed for damage," the person added. Ahmedabad Plane Crash: As Air India AI171 Black Box Is Recovered, Here’s What Flight Data Recorders Reveal in Crash Investigation.

What Is a Black Box?

In simple terms, a black box is a small device which records information about an aircraft during its flight. It helps in the investigation of aviation accidents. Black boxes help record data during flights without interruption and hold crucial information in plane crashes, like the Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad. Although they are painted with bright orange colour to ensure high visibility, they are generally called black boxes. The two recorders - CVR and DFDR- are integrated into a few aircraft.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 19, 2025 05:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).