How is the Air India investigation unfolding? Why are UK, US involved?

First Post

16-06-2025

At least 270 people were killed after a London-bound Air India flight, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171) crashed at the Ahmedabad airport on June 12 just moments after taking off. The Centre has constituted a high-level committee to examine the causes of the crash and experts from Boeing as well as teams from the UK and the US are aiding the investigation read more
Parts of an Air India plane that crashed on Thursday are seen on top of a building in Ahmedabad, India. AP
The investigation into the Air India plane crash is on.
At least 270 people were killed after a London-bound Air India flight, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171) crashed at the Ahmedabad airport on June 12 just moments after taking off.
Two-hundred and forty-one people of 242 aboard were killed in the incident.
The lone survivor, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian-origin, is currently being treated in a hospital.
This was the first Dreamliner crash since its commercial debut in 2011.
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Experts from Boeing and teams from the UK and the US are also aiding the investigation.
But how is the probe unfolding? Why are teams from the UK and US involved?
Let's take a closer look:
What do we know?
The Centre has constituted a high-level committee to examine the causes of the crash.
The committee, which will be headed by the Union home secretary, will also submit a list of recommendations within three months on how to prevent such accidents in the future.
The committee is comprises of people from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Indian Air Force, as well as aviation experts.
'A High Level Multi-disciplinary Committee is constituted for examining the causes leading to the crash of the Air India Flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport (London) on June 12, 2025. The Committee will examine the existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued to prevent and handle such occurrences and suggest comprehensive guidelines for dealing with such instances in the future,' the order issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday read.
Experts from Boeing and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) arrived in Gujarat on Sunday to examine the crash site.
So did a 10-member team from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The (AAIB), which probes aircraft accidents and incidents, found the black box – which comprises the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) – of the plane 28 hours after the tragedy, according to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said.
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After a plane crash, the black box becomes the most important tool for investigators. Reuters
Their contents, which are currently being analysed, could help unlock the mystery of the crash.
Graham Braithwaite, an aviation professor at Cranfield University in England, told The Guardian, 'The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder will tell us a lot – assuming they are undamaged … and help the industry know how best to react in the short term.'
He said the focus would be on 'making sure they don't lose evidence from the site during recovery efforts, or from the hangar, airport or training records'.
'The team can involve specialists from the manufacturer or operator … but under very strict controls to ensure the independence of the investigation.'
Investigators are also looking at CCTV footage from BJ Medical College as well as Ahmedabad Airport.
Footage of the crash recorded by a local named Vijay is also being looked at.
While bird hit remains a possible theory, investigators are yet to find any proof of it.
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A source on Friday said the probe is narrowing in on the plane's engine, flaps and landing gear .
The source said that the plane's engine thrust, flaps, and landing gear are all under scrutiny.
It is also examining whether Air India is to blame as well as any issues with the plane's maintenance.
Why are teams from US and UK involved?
This is because of international aviation regulations.
Annex 13 defines an accident as 'an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft: in which a person is fatally or seriously injured; in which an aircraft sustains damage or structural failure requiring repairs; after which the aircraft in question is classified as being missing'.
Officials from the US are joining the investigation because the Boeing was manufactured there.
'The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, since the aircraft is American-made,' US officials said in a statement on Sunday.
Meanwhile, experts from the UK are joining because of the large number of British citizens on board the aircraft.
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'Maybe we will be able to speak later. We saw what you guys can see. It's just the same, as you can see from here,' one of the team members said.
Daksha Patni mourns for her relative Akash Patni, 14, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft crashed during take-off from an airport, outside the postmortem room at a hospital, in Ahmedabad. Reuters
Boeing's chief Kelly Ortberg in a statement said the company 'stands ready to support' the AAIB in its investigation.
Meanwhile, the toll from the plane crash touched 270 on Saturday.
'Around 270 bodies have been brought to the civil hospital so far from the plane crash site,' Dr Dhaval Gameti,president of Junior Doctors' Association of BJ Medical College, said.
The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.
The passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
With inputs from agencies