India is sending the black box from the recent fatal Air India crash to the United States for analysis, after its own investigators failed to retrieve critical flight data due to fire damage, according to a report by the Economic Times.
The admission, based on anonymous sources, underscores India’s lack of domestic capacity to handle high-stakes aviation investigations, especially following what has become the world’s deadliest plane crash in over a decade.
The crash of the Air India Boeing Dreamliner last week claimed 241 lives on board and at least 30 more on the ground, a catastrophic incident that has raised serious questions about the state of aviation oversight in the country. Despite initial claims of a “well-maintained” aircraft, authorities have not yet provided any conclusive explanation for the crash.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on why it couldn’t extract data from the damaged black box, a standard tool in crash probes globally.
The black box, which includes the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, is now being sent to the National Transportation Safety Board’s advanced laboratory in Washington, a move that reflects India’s dependence on foreign agencies for crucial investigation work.
While Air India continues to insist the jet had no reported technical issues, many observers find the narrative difficult to accept, especially in the absence of hard evidence from the recorders.
The airline said the aircraft underwent its last major inspection in June 2023, with both engines reportedly cleared during routine checks earlier this year. Despite this, the Dreamliner crashed under yet-unexplained circumstances, killing a majority of the 169 Indian nationals on board, along with 53 British passengers and others.
Air India described its cockpit crew as highly experienced, led by a captain with over 10,000 flight hours. But such reassurances have offered little comfort to the families of victims, many of whom are still waiting for the identification of their loved ones through DNA testing.
As of Thursday, 210 victims have been identified, according to state health minister Rushikesh Patel.
While India has touted its ambitions to become a global aviation hub, the aftermath of this crash reveals glaring gaps in the country’s ability to investigate and respond to aviation disasters independently, now relying on the US to do the job its own systems couldn’t handle.
