India will send the black box recovered from the recent fatally crashed Air India plane to the US for analysis, local newspaper Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing people aware of the development.
“The recorder sustained heavy external damage from post-crash fire making it impossible to extract data in India,” the ET report said, citing people aware of the development.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Indian authorities are investigating the crash of an Air India Boeing Dreamliner, which last week killed 241 people on board and at least 30 on ground, marking the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
The black box consists of two components — the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (CVR). It provides crucial insights for crash investigators, including altitude and airspeed data and pilot conversation records that help determine probable causes of crashes.
Data from the flight data recorder will be extracted at the Washington-based laboratory of the National Transportation Safety Board and shared with AAIB, the ET report added, citing sources.
Meanwhile, the airline said its plane was “well-maintained” before it crashed a week ago.
As investigators attempt to retrieve data from the plane’s black boxes, the airline said that no problems were detected with the jet before the disaster.
“The plane was well-maintained, with its last major check in June 2023,” Air India said in a statement.
“Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight,” the airline said.
Initial checks since the crash on Air India’s Dreamliners “did not reveal any major safety concerns”, the country’s civil aviation regulator said on Tuesday.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members. The airline said the pilots were accomplished flyers.
“The flight was led by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a highly experienced pilot and trainer with over 10,000 hours flying widebody aircraft,” it said. “First Officer Clive Kunder, had over 3,400 hours of flying experience.”
While investigators try to piece together what went wrong, families of dozens of victims are still waiting for their loved ones to be identified.
As of Thursday, 210 victims have been identified through DNA testing, state health minister Rushikesh Patel said.
