Black Box Battle: America Wanted Washington, But India Chose Delhi to Lead Air India Crash Investigation

When Indian officials from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau welcomed US black-box specialists to New Delhi in late June 2025, they emphasized a collaborative yet sovereign approach to unraveling the causes of the first fatal Dreamliner crash. Air India Flight 171 had plummeted into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad just two weeks earlier, killing 241 of 242 people on board and 19 on the ground , a tragedy that has galvanized India’s aviation authorities to prioritize technical integrity over external narratives.The proposed analysis of the flight-data and cockpit voice recorders at a secure aerospace facility in Korwa, Uttar Pradesh reflected India’s advanced capabilities and commitment to controlled, media-free environments for

sensitive work. However, US National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy raised concerns about the site’s remoteness, citing State Department advisories on regional security. This led to a temporary standoff, with Homendy contacting high-level US figures, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the CEO of Boeing Company, and executives from GE Aerospace, said a Wall Street Journal report.At India’s insistence, embassy officials facilitated discussions, and the data extraction proceeded at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s state-of-the-art lab in New Delhi , inaugurated in April 2025 to bolster the nation’s self-reliant aviation ecosystem. This resolution underscored Director GVG Yugandhar’s early assertion to US counterparts: “India is a proud nation with world-class expertise. We handle complex investigations with the same proficiency as any global leader.”These exchanges, detailed in interviews with over a dozen Indian officials and reviewed documents, reveal a probe marked by India’s firm leadership, occasional US -driven delays, and a deliberate focus on potential aircraft anomalies. The investigation , expected to span a year , includes deep scrutiny of a 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner (registration VT‑ANB), including prior faults overlooked in maintenance logs.In a draft letter dated June 24, US National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy urged Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu to expedite data downloads at the Delhi facility or in Washington, warning of potential withdrawal of US support.Indian officials, prioritizing national oversight, negotiated via calls and agreed to the Delhi option, ensuring control under the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. “Our shared goal is aviation safety,” Homendy noted in communications, but Indian responders stressed that yielding to external timelines risked compromising a holistic review.The stakes are immense for India, where aviation growth demands rigorous scrutiny of foreign-manufactured fleets.Preliminary data from the enhanced airborne flight recorders (EAFRs), recovered on June 16 and downloaded on June 25, indicate the fuel-control switches shifted to “cutoff” one second apart shortly after liftoff, starving both GE GEnx engines of fuel.Cockpit audio reveals confusion: one pilot questioned the switch movement, the other denied involvement, and the switches reverted to “run” after 10 seconds , too late to prevent the 32-second flight’s descent into a residential area.Investigators are probing whether electrical anomalies or previously unaddressed system faults triggered the behavior, particularly given the aircraft’s history.Prior Faults Raise Red Flags on Boeing OversightMaintenance records show the aircraft suffered a hard landing on its inbound flight (AI 423 from Delhi) earlier on June 12, tied to a stabilizer trim sensor failure , factually captured in the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s preliminary report, though not fully analyzed for cascading failures.Multiple additional faults were logged the same day, including stabilizer motor unit issues, yet the aircraft was not grounded.In October 2025, another Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the same airline’s fleet experienced uncommanded deployment of its emergency power device, the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), echoing a similar pre-impact activation recorded on Flight 171.This pushed Directorate General of Civil Aviation to formally seek data from the Boeing Company regarding such incidents.Full-motion simulator studies by Indian pilots ruled out standalone pilot error, pointing toward possible dual-engine flameouts caused by contaminated fuel or automated shutdown logic from a system fault within a deeply computerized architecture.This incident revives older safety alarms: quality manager and whistleblower John Barnett raised concerns in 2017 regarding oxygen system defects, wiring contamination, and production shortcuts at Boeing’s South Carolina facility, where he alleged retaliation preceded his 2024 death by suicide amid legal proceedings.The 2025 crash has revived debate within Indian pilot bodies, triggering union-driven calls for audits covering electrical and fuel automation layers.US History of Downplaying Faults Undermines CredibilityIndia’s firm insistence on location-sovereign data access reflects broader distrust seeded by past US messaging patterns in major accident probes.Boeing 737 MAX (2018–2019):

• 346 fatalities in Indonesia and Ethiopia
• Early FAA leadership framed the events as primarily “pilot training & crew response issues”
• Internal MCAS design reliance on one faulty sensor was omitted from pilot documentation to avoid expensive retraining
• Later congressional and oversight probes cited certification conflicts under FAA self-delegation programs

Government Oversight Reports (US):

• 2021 DOT IG report cited weaknesses in hazard review under fast competition pressure against Airbus SE
• A 2020 House probe labeled oversight “grossly insufficient,” leading to 20-month grounding of the 737 MAX
• Legal settlement of $1.1 billion closed criminal exposure, with the agreement dismissed after payout

Boeing 787 program (2013 battery grounding):

• 3-month worldwide grounding for lithium-ion battery fires
• Post-return audits reportedly cited continuing wiring and fuselage join risks but framed them as “isolated” rather than systemic

These precedents inform Indian regulators’ refusal to accept premature FAA assurances including the July 2025 statement from Administrator Bryan Bedford claiming “no evidence of fleet-wide risk.”Early Probe Dynamics: India’s Proactive StanceOfficials from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau deployed an investigation GO Team to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12.Wreckage was secured across an estimated 37,000-square-meter debris zone, including trees, a chimney impact site, and the hostel strike radius.US specialists joined on June 15 under International Civil Aviation Organization protocols, but early site interactions were carefully mediated by Indian officers to preserve sequential evidence integrity and prevent cross-contamination of fragile switch hardware.AI-generated origin rumors circulated at scale online, but Indian authorities ring-fenced public narratives while releasing a controlled preliminary report on July 11 that documented the switch sequencing without assigning blame.Investigators confirmed both throttles were in “run” mode at ground impact, per wreckage position, but engine thrust was absent post-rotation , keeping electrical logic, wiring contamination, and fuel hardware anomalies in the causal frame.The pilots involved, including an experienced captain with 30+ years of clean service and the first officer who pulled back on the flight controls in the final seconds, have been defended publicly by pilot unions and families against speculation-driven theories invoking self-harm or intentional switch cuts.Safeguarding Reputations and Seeking JusticeThe Safety Matters Foundation and the Federation of Indian Pilots filed petitions in the Supreme Court of India calling for independent oversight, citing concerns about defamatory online theories targeting the flight crew.Yugandhar and Chair Homendy jointly criticized premature media speculation in mid-July, restating a shared priority for aviation safety without diluting India’s procedural leadership.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has mandated independent inspections on the airline’s fleet covering Ram Air Turbine activation flags and stabilizer hardware histories, outside of US-driven sequencing pressure.As India steers one of its most consequential air-crash investigations, it carries the burden of honoring 260 lives lost across multiple nationalities , and reinforcing that accountability for complex system design cannot be secondary to reputation management or WTO-era corporate diplomacy.