Twenty-seven hours after the London-bound Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, the aircraft’s black box has been recovered from the rooftop of a medical hostel in Meghaninagar.
This crucial recovery is expected to play a key role in determining the exact cause of the tragic crash.
The devastating accident killed 241 of the 242 people on board, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. Only one person, a UK national of Indian origin, miraculously survived. The aircraft’s tail section struck the BJ Medical College hostel mess, killing five medical students and pushing the total death toll to at least 265.
A black box contains two essential devices:
Flight Data Recorder (FDR): Records altitude, airspeed, direction, and over 88 critical flight parameters.
These tools allow aviation authorities to recreate the final moments of a flight and understand technical failures or human errors.
