Investigators search Air India wreckage, find black box
Published in News & Features
Investigators are combing the wreckage of Air India flight AI171 to determine what caused the Boeing Co. Dreamliner to crash on Thursday, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard and resulting in the deadliest aviation accident in more than a decade.
One of the two so-called black boxes, which contain critical evidence of a plane’s final moments, was located, the India Aviation Ministry said Friday. The ministry said it found the digital flight-data recorder of the plane, a first breakthrough that should help retrace the fateful final moments of the flight.
The accident site remains a scene of total devastation, with burnt debris and scattered aircraft parts still smoldering. The BJ Medical Hostel, where medical students were dining at the time of the accident, has been severely damaged, with four tower blocks half-burnt and blackened. Firefighters continue to spray water on the site, while police and officials work to clear the wreckage.
The focus is shifting from rescue efforts to a search for material evidence, said a senior official from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly visited the crash site on Friday, underscoring the scale of the tragedy and the urgency to find answers.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday ordered maintenance checks on all of Air India’s Boeing Co. 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric Co.’s GEnx engines. The extra inspections, to be carried out over the next two weeks, cover fuel, cabin-air, engine-control and hydraulics systems after the plane appeared to lose thrust as it took off.
Authorities are looking into all aspects of the doomed flight, one aviation official said. Investigative teams from the UK and U.S. arrived Friday in Ahmedabad to assist with the crash probe.
“Like you, we want to know what happened,” Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Air India owner Tata Sons, said in a message to staff. “The Tata Group takes its responsibility to society seriously, and that includes being open about what occurred.”
Boeing shares fell 1.8% at 9:32 a.m. in New York, adding to Thursday’s 4.8% slide. Tata Sons is privately held.
Air-safety experts have noted some anomalies in the short flight, based on the video footage. Clips that emerged showed the landing gear extended after takeoff, and flaps on the trailing edge of the wings — used to generate lift at lower speeds — may have mistakenly been raised. The 787 aircraft, bound for London, crashed just seconds after takeoff, exploding into a huge fireball.
The miraculous survival of one passenger, Ramesh Vishwaskumar, is also unexplained. Vishwaskumar, who was seated in the first row of economy class, may be able to offer valuable clues as to what caused the accident.
The flight to London’s Gatwick airport was carrying 12 crew and 230 passengers, most of whom were Indian and British nationals. Some students eating lunch at the hostel are among those dead, indicating the toll is likely to rise.
It appeared as if the 787 Dreamliner wasn’t able to achieve sufficient thrust as it lumbered down nearly the full length of an 11,000-foot runway, a distance that should have been more than enough to take off, said Bob Mann, head of aviation consultant RW Mann & Co.
That could stem from a misconfiguration of the plane prior to takeoff or erroneous weight data entered into the plane’s computer system that determines how much power is needed to get off the ground, he said. Mann cautioned that his views were unofficial and not corroborated by data or cockpit voice recorders.
“If the weight is high compared to the actual number, you end up with a very aggressive takeoff,” Mann said. “If the weight is low compared to the actual, you end up with not enough commanded power.”
The pilots in command issued a mayday call immediately after takeoff to air traffic controllers, according to India’s civil aviation regulator. According to the Telegraph newspaper, they signaled that the 787 was losing power.
The aircraft was in the command of captain Sumeet Sabharwal and first officer Clive Kundar, who had 8,200 flying hours and 1,100 flying hours of experience, respectively, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
According to air traffic control data, the jet departed from Ahmedabad at 1:39 p.m. local time using runway 23. After the initial mayday call, there was no response from the cockpit to subsequent calls made by controllers on the ground.
The accident extends a series of serious and fatal incidents in the civil aviation industry this year, including a midair collision in Washington early in 2025 between a military helicopter and an aircraft.
Thursday’s crash marks the first-ever complete loss of a 787, a plane Boeing introduced more than a decade ago with advanced lightweight composite materials that improve fuel efficiency. The 787 has become a crucial source of revenue for Boeing, with 1,148 of the jets in service globally.
Boeing Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg said in a statement Thursday that he has spoken to Air India’s chairman and that Boeing is ready to support the investigation. Ortberg and Boeing commercial aircraft head Stephanie Pope canceled their plans to attend the Paris Air Show, according to a company memo seen by Bloomberg News.
Among the 242 people on board, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British citizens, one 1 was Canadian and seven Portuguese, according to Air India.
Based on the number of people on board, this is the worst commercial airline crash since Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, which was shot down over Ukraine, killing 298 people, according to Aviation Safety Network, which tracks fatal crashes. The last crash of this magnitude for Air India was Flight 182 in 1985. That Boeing 747 aircraft was destroyed by a bomb over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 people on board.
Boeing has been involved in several accidents in recent years, including two fatal crashes with Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019. Early last year, a nearly-new 737 Max aircraft lost a door panel during flight. While there were no fatalities, the accident plunged the company into a deep crisis.
_____
(With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein and Allyson Versprille.)
_____
©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments