As the investigation into the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI-171 continues, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol has confirmed that “possible sabotage” is one of the aspects under scrutiny. His statement follows the launch of a comprehensive investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is currently analysing data from the aircraft’s black boxes.

The crash occurred on June 12, shortly after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner took off from Ahmedabad, resulting in the deaths of 241 of the 242 people on board. The final death toll now stands at 260, including 19 people killed on the ground, according to Gujarat authorities, slightly lower than the initial estimate of 270.

The AAIB, India’s top aviation crash investigation agency, is leading the probe. Both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) were recovered from the crash site and sent to Delhi for forensic analysis.

Speaking at an event in Pune, Minister Mohol told NDTV: “It (plane crash) was an unfortunate incident. The AAIB has begun a full investigation into it… It is being probed from all angles, including any possible sabotage. The CCTV footage is being reviewed and all angles are being assessed… several agencies are working on it.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has stated that data extraction from the black boxes began on June 24 with assistance from both Indian and US investigators, including members of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely retrieved, and the memory module was accessed and downloaded on June 25 at the AAIB lab in Delhi.

A multidisciplinary investigation team was formed by the AAIB on June 13. The team comprises Indian and international experts, including aviation technical staff, a specialist in aviation medicine, and an air traffic control officer, in line with global aviation safety norms laid out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Investigators are working to reconstruct the final moments of Flight AI-171 to determine the root cause of the crash. The ongoing analysis of the CVR and FDR data is expected to provide critical insights into the sequence of events that led to the disaster.