The death toll in the Air India Flight AI 171 crash has now reached 274 after 29 more bodies were recovered from the wreckage of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
This makes it the deadliest single-aircraft accident in India’s aviation history, with more deaths than the 241 passengers and crew who were originally thought to be on board. The new numbers suggest that at least 33 people who died were on the BJ Medical College campus in Ahmedabad — including doctors, their families, students, and workers from the Meghaninagar area.
The black box — containing both the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) — was found on Friday, 28 hours after the crash. It was discovered on the roof of the students’ mess hall at BJ Medical College, where the plane crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon. The plane’s emergency location transmitter was found the night before.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) confirmed the black box recovery. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu also shared the update on social media, saying it will play a key role in finding out the cause of the crash.
Ahmedabad police have registered a case of accidental death at Meghaninagar police station and started their investigation. The police received the first call about the crash and fire at 1:44 PM on Thursday. The crash happened inside the Old IGP Campus, which houses hostels for MBBS students and doctors from BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.
According to the officials, most victims had severe burns, making identification difficult. 319 body parts have been sent for DNA testing to help identify the victims. Apart from the passengers, at least three doctors and a pregnant wife of a neurosurgery resident were also confirmed dead earlier. The body of another missing MBBS student, Jay Prakash Chaudhary, was identified by his family on Friday.
Central agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), visited the crash site on Friday. While investigators have not ruled out foul play, the main focus is on collecting flight data and evidence to find out whether technical issues or human errors caused the crash.