Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu denied the claims that the black box recovered from the Air India crash has been sent abroad for examination.
"It is all speculation. The black box is very much in India, and it is currently being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)", said Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu at the Helicopters & Small Aircraft Summit 2025 held in Pune, responding to questions on the Ahmedabad plane crash.
Naidu, debunked speculation that the two black boxes recovered from the tragic Air India flight crash on June 13 and June 16 were being sent abroad for further examination of flight data and recordings, on Tuesday .
The AAIB is a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation that investigates aircraft accidents and incidents in India. "Let the AAIB conduct the probe and go through the entire process," commented Naidu on when the black box data will be recovered.
What is the black box data?
The two boxes found at the crash site each comprise the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). DFDR is designed to collect and record data from various aircraft sensors onto the black box, which is specifically designed to survive an accident.
The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) is used to record the audio environment in the flight deck for accident and incident investigation purposes. The CVR records and stores the audio signals from the microphones and earphones of the pilots’ headsets, as well as from an area microphone installed in the cockpit.
In this case, each black box consisted of both the systems and was present at the nose and rear of the plane.
“Decoding the black box is going to give an in-depth insight into what happened moments before the plane crash," Said Naidu. Recovering this data is essential for the AAIB investigation to uncover what went wrong in the 32-second-long flight.
The Ahmedabad plane crash claimed the lives of 275, confirmed the Gujarat Health Department to NDTV on Tuesday. Among the casualties, 260 have been DNA matched and identified as 120 men, 124 women, and 16 children, according to the report. The remaining bodies' identification process is still ongoing.
