New Delhi (20.06.2025): There is a severe criticism of the government for sending Black Boxes of Air India Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to the US for decoding the reason of accident as just two months ago a state-of-the-art laboratory was inaugurated in India for analysing aircraft Black Boxes. The government decision to send the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to the US was taken in view of the complexity of the accident.
The move highlights limitations in India’s newly launched facility, which was expected to handle such critical investigations. The retrieved black box has been sent to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder (DFDR & CVR) Laboratory in New Delhi.
In April 2025, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu inaugurated the DFDR & CVR Laboratory at the AAIB headquarters in New Delhi which was built with an investment of Rs 9 crore and technical support from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The facility was designed to recover flight data and conduct detailed crash investigations.
The new lab is in the process of decoding the data from black boxes. Officials said, “AAIB experts attempted to retrieve the data but found that the extent of damage to the recorders necessitates more sophisticated equipment.” The recorders may be sent to the US-based National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for data recovery. A team from the NTSB will handle the transport under Indian supervision to ensure proper chain of custody, if a decision is taken to send them to US.
The new facility aimed to meet international standards and enable India to independently analyse black boxes without sending them abroad. The lab is expected to reduce dependency on foreign agencies and improve the speed of investigations. Extent of damage may force reliance on US agency. The United Kingdom’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch will also be involved in the investigation, as 53 British citizens were among the passengers killed. Black boxes, which include the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), are essential tools for accident investigation.
