Air India Crash: Investigators Examine Tail Wreckage For Clues To Electrical Fault, Says Report
Officials familiar with the investigation said that the empennage, or tail assembly, showed signs of a 'contained electric fire' confined to a few components.
Investigators probing the June 12 crash of Air India flight AI-171 are focusing on the aircraft's tail section, which they believe could hold critical evidence about what went wrong during the 26 seconds the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was airborne after taking off from Ahmedabad airport.
Officials familiar with the investigation told The Indian Express that the empennage, or tail assembly, showed signs of a 'contained electric fire" confined to a few components.
This section was detached from the main fuselage during the crash and remained mostly unaffected by the subsequent explosion and fuel fire.
Key components from the tail have been recovered and secured in Ahmedabad for detailed analysis. 'They hold the key for a detailed analysis of a possible malfunction in the electric supply of the aircraft during lift-off," an official told The Indian Express.
The rear black box, or aft Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR), was found on the rooftop of the BJ Medical College hostel mess. It had suffered significant thermal damage, preventing data recovery through standard methods. When opened, the memory card was found to be extensively damaged.
According to the AAIB's preliminary report released on July 12, it contained around 49 hours of flight data, including six previous flights. The voice recordings recovered included two hours of audio, covering the crash sequence.
Although the tail struck the hostel building during impact, investigators noted the damage wasn't severe enough to explain the black box failure. Officials are examining whether the fire originated during take-off due to an electrical fault or resulted from the crash.
Along with the black box, other tail-section components such as the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), transducers, and rudders are also under scrutiny. The APU was found intact and has been retrieved for further examination.
The investigation is also considering a technical issue flagged before the crash.
A Pilot Defect Report was filed after the previous flight (AI-423 from Delhi to Ahmedabad) noting a 'STAB POS XDCR" status — referring to a stabiliser position sensor in the tail.
An Aircraft Maintenance Engineer reportedly troubleshooted the issue and cleared the aircraft for its next flight, AI-171, at 12:15 pm on June 12.
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First Published:
July 20, 2025, 10:28 IST
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