Black Box Recovered After Air India Plane Crash Kills Over 260 in Ahmedabad
Officials hope flight recorder will provide answers as investigation begins into one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters.
A black box has been recovered from the wreckage of the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed shortly after takeoff in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 265 people, including residents on the ground, according to police and aviation officials.
The London-bound aircraft, carrying 242 passengers and crew, plummeted into a densely populated neighborhood near the airport on Thursday, destroying buildings and igniting a massive fire. Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and devastation, with parts of the aircraft lodged in homes and bodies scattered across the crash site.
Authorities confirmed on Friday that the flight data recorder (black box) was recovered and will be central to determining the cause of the crash. India’s aviation minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, said the data “will significantly aid investigators.”
Miraculously, one passenger, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British citizen, survived the crash and recounted the terrifying moments from his hospital bed.
“Within a minute after takeoff, it felt like something got stuck,” he told India’s DD News. “Then everything just changed — lights flickered, and we were crashing. I thought I was going to die.”
The aircraft crashed into a residential hostel for medical staff and a nearby canteen, where students were eating lunch. Among the 265 confirmed dead, at least 24 are believed to have been on the ground. Rescue workers warned the death toll could rise as DNA identification continues.
Outside emergency response centers, families gave DNA samples to help identify victims. One man, Ashfaque Nanabawa, said he spoke to his cousin just minutes before takeoff.
“He called and said he had boarded safely,” Nanabawa said. “That was his last call.”
Others struggled with grief. A woman mourning her son-in-law whispered, “My daughter doesn’t know he’s gone. I can’t tell her. Can someone else do that, please?”
Officials from the U.S. and U.K. air accident investigation agencies are en route to assist Indian authorities. Boeing confirmed it was in contact with Air India and pledged full cooperation.
While the exact cause remains unknown, early analysis suggests a possible dual engine failure, with experts speculating a bird strike may have brought both engines down—an extremely rare occurrence. The aircraft had barely reached 100 meters (330 feet) before issuing a mayday call.
This marks the first-ever crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, raising global concern. India’s aviation regulator has ordered Air India to conduct urgent maintenance checks on its entire Dreamliner fleet, particularly those equipped with GEnx engines.
India is the world’s fourth-largest aviation market, and its airline industry has seen rapid expansion in recent years. But the tragedy has drawn renewed attention to aviation safety in the country, which has suffered several major air disasters in recent decades.
As rescue efforts continue and families mourn, the nation now awaits answers from the black box — and accountability for one of the deadliest crashes in its modern aviation history.
