Air India Crash: Black Box Undamaged; Investigators Retrieved ‘Good Data’

Investigators probing the catastrophic crash of an Air India aircraft that killed all 260 people onboard last month have confirmed that the aircraft’s black boxes were not damaged and have yielded "good data", reports said.

Officials from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) disclosed this during a closed-door meeting with a parliamentary panel on aviation held Wednesday, reports said. The revelation directly contradicts earlier Indian media reports that claimed the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, commonly referred to as black boxes, had been severely damaged in the crash.

The London-bound Boeing Dreamliner went down in a fiery explosion shortly after takeoff on June 12, leaving behind charred debris across a residential area. The cockpit voice recorder was recovered from a rooftop on June 13, and the flight data recorder was retrieved from the wreckage on June 16.

The AAIB and the Ministry of Civil Aviation have yet to officially respond to queries regarding the condition of the black boxes or the progress of the investigation.

The preliminary report into the crash is expected to be made public by Friday, Reuters has previously reported.

Sources familiar with the probe have indicated that investigators are focusing on the aircraft’s fuel control switches and examining possible issues related to engine thrust. These technical areas are considered key to understanding the chain of events that led to the disaster.

Meanwhile, Air India has come under increasing scrutiny. Its Chief Executive, Campbell Wilson, appeared before the parliamentary committee to provide updates on the airline's response to the tragedy. One source confirmed that Air India representatives shared details of their ongoing internal assessments and crisis management efforts during the meeting.

In a separate development, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has announced an investigation into Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost subsidiary. This follows a Reuters investigation that revealed the airline failed to comply with a directive to replace engine components on an Airbus A320 and allegedly falsified maintenance records to indicate compliance.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also reprimanded Air India in recent weeks after it was found operating three Airbus aircraft with overdue maintenance checks on emergency escape slides—an apparent violation of aviation safety protocols.

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