AI-171 victims' kin seek black box data, memorial after AAIB affidavit

Families of the AI-171 crash victims have demanded that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) release the black box data and cockpit voice recorder transcript, and questioned its decision to "withhold" the material while promising only a final probe report.

They demanded greater transparency in the probe, a memorial at the crash site and the significance of simulator tests in the ongoing investigation.

The London Gatwick Air India flight AI-171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, 2025, resulting in India's deadliest aviation disaster in decades.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner plunged into the BJ Medical College hostel complex, killing 241 of the 242 passengers on board and 19 people on the ground.

 

Representatives of the victims' families met here on Sunday to discuss the AAIB's recent affidavit before the Supreme Court, in which the agency said it would not release the black box data or the CVR transcript.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Romin Vahora, who lost his brother, niece and aunt in the tragedy, questioned how portions of the cockpit conversation surfaced soon after the crash if the authorities believed such material should not be made public.

"If they never intended to release the data, why did they release a cockpit voice recording transcript (as part of preliminary report) just a few days after the crash?" Vahora asked, adding that the families wanted to know whether the selective disclosure was meant to "shift the blame onto the pilots or mislead the victims' families".

He said the families wanted the raw black box data to be released publicly, handed over to the families or shared with the lawyers representing them.

"If they only give us a summarised report, what guarantee do we have that it is accurate? Until the actual black box data is released, nobody can definitively assure us whether the report is true or false," said Vahora, a resident of Kheda district.

He said the families had not yet initiated any legal proceedings and were waiting for the final investigation report, while their lawyers were pursuing all legal avenues to obtain the black box data.

The families would continue efforts to obtain the black box data, he said, stressing there was no clear reason for withholding it when similar information had been released in investigations of several previous air crashes.

If the report was not released by the timeline indicated in the AAIB affidavit, the families would consider holding protests after obtaining permission from the authorities, Vahora added.

The AAIB last week told the Supreme Court that the draft final report of its probe into the aviation tragedy was expected to be ready in October this year.

In a detailed affidavit filed before the top court, the AAIB said there is an "absolute statutory prohibition" on disclosing cockpit voice recordings and airborne image recordings from the June 12, 2025, Ahmedabad plane crash to any external committee or the public.

It said that sensitive investigative material, including witness statements, cockpit voice recorder recordings and transcripts, air traffic control communications, and medical information, needed to be kept confidential as their disclosure could adversely affect the integrity of the ongoing investigation and future aviation safety inquiries.

The victims' families on Sunday also reiterated their demand for a permanent memorial at the AI171 crash site.

Vahora urged the government, Air India and the Tata Group, which owns the carrier, to earmark land and allocate funds for a monument honouring the victims.

Another victim's relative, lawyer Saloni Palkhiwala, who lost her sister Sanjana Palkhiwala in the crash, said the government should exercise its powers to make an exception and release at least the transcript of the cockpit conversation if not the audio recording.

"It has been one year, one month and nine days. The least they could do is let the families know what happened in the last few seconds," she said, claiming that transcripts had been released in investigations into several major international air crashes.

Commenting on the "delay" in the investigation report, Palkhiwala said the families were not seeking a hurried inquiry but wanted the truth to emerge without protecting any corporate or institutional interests.

She also backed the demand for a memorial at the crash site, saying it would honour those who lost their lives and demonstrate that the country valued the victims and their families.