Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad: All eyes now on the crucial ‘black box’
Updated: Jun 12th, 2025
Thursday brought sorrow to Gujarat and the nation as a London-bound Air India Flight 171 crashed into B J Medical boys’ hostel in Ahmedabad, soon after taking off. As of now, 204 are reportedly dead in the accident.
When the fateful flight took off from Runway 23 at 1.38 pm, in just 8 minutes, the pilots issued a MAYDAY call shortly, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Meanwhile, the Airport authority has recovered the aircraft’s black box, a critical component that records flight data and cockpit communication. It will be crucial in piecing together the exact chain of events that led to the crash.
What is a black box?
A black box is basically a ‘recorder’ planted inside the flight for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents.
The electronic device may be a bright orange-coloured box that is recovered after plane accidents, offering crucial information about the last moments before the mishap.
It is primarily made of titanium and enclosed in a titanium box that can survive a severe crash involving fire. Inside the box are two separate devices: the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which means it not only offers the data of the technical functioning of the aircraft during the flight, it also registers the conversations that may have taken place between pilot and co-pilots, and their communication with the ATC.
If the flight submerges into water, an ultrasonic ‘ping’ will be generated from the FDR to aid in detection.
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