Air India Plane Crash: Why Finding Black Box Is Key To Unravelling The Tragedy
The black boxes — comprising the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — are designed to withstand extreme impact and fire, ensuring vital data survives even the most severe crashes.
Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route to London crashed moments after takeoff from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, resulting in a massive rescue operation and raising urgent questions about the cause of the disaster.
The aircraft, flight AI-171, took off from Runway 23 at 1:38 p.m., but shortly after, it issued a distress call — a MAYDAY — and crashed in the Meghani Nagar area just outside the airport perimeter, exploding into a fiery blaze at an altitude of only 625 feet.
The plane was carrying 242 people — including 232 passengers and 10 crew members. Among the passengers were 169 Indians, 53 British nationals and a Canadian. The flight was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The Air India tragedy in Ahmedabad is the first time a Boeing 787 Dreamliner has crashed since the plane's introduction in 2011. Although Boeing 787s have faced engine issues leading to groundings and flight reductions, their overall safety record in service has been good.
There are more than 1,100 Boeing 787s in service. Air India operates about 30 Dreamliners and has been using the US-built long-haul plane since 2012. The plane involved in the crash, a 787-8, was built in 2013.
Rescue teams are now engaged in searching for survivors amid the wreckage, while investigators focus on recovering the aircraft's black box — key evidence in understanding what led to the catastrophe.
What's A Black Box?
Aircraft black boxes are bright orange crash-resistant devices.
These devices are critical evidence that helps in piecing together the sequence of events that unfolded during those crucial moments after takeoff, similar to how DNA is used in criminal cases.
The black boxes — comprising the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder — are designed to withstand extreme impact and fire, ensuring vital data survives even the most severe crashes.
The FDR captures a comprehensive snapshot of the aircraft's technical parameters — altitude, speed, engine thrust, control surface positions and system warnings — providing investigators with precise data on the aircraft's performance.
The CVR records all cockpit audio, including pilot conversations, radio transmissions, warning alarms and ambient mechanical sounds, offering an invaluable eyewitness account from the cockpit during the incident.
These recordings are often referred to as the black-box evidence in aviation investigations. They play a crucial role in reconstructing the events leading up to a crash, especially when eyewitness accounts are unavailable or inconclusive. The information gleaned from these devices can definitively determine whether mechanical failure, engine malfunction, bird strike, onboard fire or human error caused the accident.
Once recovered, they will be sent to forensic laboratories under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau for detailed analysis.
The process of analysing the black boxes typically takes days to weeks, depending on the extent of device damage. However, initial findings are usually shared within 24 hours to steer the investigation's direction.
Past incidents, such as the 2015 Germanwings crash and the Malaysia Airlines disasters, underscore the importance of these devices in solving aviation mysteries. In India, the 2020 Kozhikode crash investigation also relied heavily on black box data.
As the investigation unfolds, authorities hope that the recovered data will shed light on the cause of this tragic accident and prevent future occurrences. For now, the focus remains on saving lives, understanding what went wrong and ensuring accountability in the pursuit of safer skies.
