Investigators have successfully retrieved and downloaded crucial data from the black boxes of the Air India flight AI-171, which crashed on June 12 killing 271 people. The ministry of civil aviation said on Thursday that both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) were accessed at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) laboratory in Delhi, and the analysis of their contents was underway.

ALSO READ Air India-Boeing liable to compensate without limit

This marks a significant step forward in the investigation, as the black boxes are central to understanding the final moments of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft’s flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, which ended in tragedy when it crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off. Of the 271 fatalities, 241 were passengers and crew on board.

The ministry said that the memory module from the CVR was successfully accessed and its data downloaded on June 25, following the retrieval of the crash protection module from the front black box. The data is expected to help investigators reconstruct the events leading up to the crash and identify any systemic or technical failures, with the aim of improving aviation safety.

The recorders were recovered from the crash site in separate operations. The front unit was found on a building rooftop on June 13, while the rear was located in the wreckage on June 16, the ministry said. The devices were flown to Delhi under heavy security by the Indian Air Force on June 24. That same evening, AAIB experts, along with technical specialists from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), began the process of data extraction.

The investigation is being conducted under the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, and in line with international guidelines under Annex 13 of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Chicago Convention. A multi-disciplinary team, constituted on June 13, is led by the director general (DG) of AAIB, is conducting the investigation. The team includes experts in aviation medicine, air traffic control, and representatives from the NTSB, as mandated for crashes involving aircraft manufactured in the US.

Officials said that the inquiry is progressing in a time-bound manner and in full compliance with both domestic regulations and international commitments.

Meanwhile, heightened concerns over aviation safety in the wake of the crash have led to a spate of flight cancellations and diversions. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has responded by tightening pre-flight safety protocols to prevent any further incidents.