Black Box from Air India Crash Site Recovered, Sabotage Angle Explored
Staff, DigiTIMES. 
The London-bound flight crashed into a residential area (Image: CISF/X)
In a statement issued to media, Minister of State (Mos) for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, “Air India flight 171 Black box has been found and the possibility of sabotage is being explored”. The statement from the MoS comes on the close heels of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) starting its probe and analysis into the black box data of Air India flight 171.
According to sources, a team of experts from the US joined hands with AAIB to examine the content of the black box to trace to the last conversation that took in the cockpit before the crash. Experts say only a thorough analysis of black box data will confirm what caused the crash.
AAIB, India’s top agency for aviation crash investigation, spearheading over the probe, in a statement said, ‘Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) aka black boxes were recovered from the crash site and sent to Delhi for analysis’.
Air India Flight 171 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner met with a fatal crash on June 12, killing 241 of 242 people on board.
“The AAIB has begun a full investigation into it… It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage. The CCTV footage are being reviewed and all angles are being assessed… several agencies are working on it,” a media report quoted Murlidhar Mohol as saying.
Crash site is being examined and investigated to trace the trail of events that led to the first-ever crash of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Several possibilities behind the Air India Flight 171 crash are being explored ranging from a sudden power loss or engine failure, system malfunction, and human error. Airport surveillance footage, radio communication, and environmental conditions at the time of takeoff are also being examined by the experts.
“A B787 aircraft has extremely powerful engines. It is hard to guess what went wrong. It looks like the pilot could not get adequate thrust and realised the issue immediately after take-off.” Officials confirmed that a Mayday call was made by the pilots shortly after takeoff, pointing to an in-flight emergency,” HT quoted Amit Singh, Aviation safety expert as saying.
According to official sources, the final death toll in the Air India Flight 171 crash has been enumerated at 260, including 241 people on board and 19 on the ground.
