A day after Air India flight AI171 crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s black box has been recovered. The black box, which contain two devices, cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, are located on the tail of the aircraft, as the tail portion remains intact in most crashes.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has confirmed that black box including the Digital Flight Data Recorder was recovered from the roof of a building hit by the aircraft.
Ahmedabad Plane Crash | Contrary to some reports, the video recorder being circulated is not the DFDR (Digital Flight Data Recorder). The black box was found on the rooftop. AAIB began work with full force immediately. Over 40 staff from the State Government joined efforts to… pic.twitter.com/emstqF3G9l
— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2025
The tail of the Boeing 787 was stuck on the mess building of a doctors’ hostel of the BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar, near the airport. The aircraft hit the mess building when several intern doctors were having their lunch on Thursday. The front part of the aircraft crashed onto the ground crossing the mess building, its wings hitting the four Atulyam hostel buildings on a row.
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is expected to start working recovering the data as soon as possible. As the tail portion remained intact, it is expected that there is no damaged to the orange-coloured black box, and the data could be recovered without any problem.
The AAIB has launched a full-scale investigation into the crash, with over 40 staff from the Gujarat State Government joining efforts to support the Ministry of Civil Aviation teams on the ground. The black box, a critical piece of evidence, will be analysed to determine the cause of the tragic crash that claimed the lives of all 242 passengers and crew, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
🔴#BREAKING | Dreamliner aircraft's black box recovered after 27 hours #AhmedabadPlaneCrash #PlaneCrash #AirIndia @osamashaab pic.twitter.com/1Oawufo8qb
— NDTV (@ndtv) June 13, 2025
Earlier in the day a Digital Video Recorder was recovered from the plane, which was mistaken to be the black box by many. The Ministry of Civil Aviation clarified that, contrary to circulating reports, the video recorder recovered at the crash site was not the DFDR.
While the tail portion remained stuck on the mess building, the rest of the aircraft exploded after hitting the ground, as its tanks were carrying large amounts of fuel for the long journey to London. Therefore, apart from some bits of engines and landing gear, most of the aircraft body has turned into small pieces of metal debris.
