Investigators are combing the wreckage of Air India flight AI171 to determine what caused the Boeing Co. Dreamliner to crash on Thursday, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard and resulting in the deadliest aviation accident in more than a decade.
One of the two so-called black boxes, which contain critical evidence of a plane’s final moments, was located, the India Aviation Ministry said Friday. The ministry said it found the digital flight data recorder on the rooftop of the plane.
The accident site remains a scene of total devastation, with burnt debris and scattered aircraft parts still smoldering. The BJ Medical Hostel, where medical students were dining at the time of the accident, has been severely damaged, with four tower blocks half-burnt and blackened. Firefighters continue to spray water on the site, while police and officials work to clear the wreckage.
The focus is shifting from rescue efforts to a search for material evidence, said a senior official from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India, who asked not to be named discussing private matters. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly visited the crash site on Friday, underscoring the scale of the tragedy and the urgency to find answers.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday ordered maintenance checks on all of Air India’s Boeing Co. 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with General Electric Co.’s GEnx engines. The extra inspections, to be carried out over the next two weeks, cover fuel, cabin-air, engine-control and hydraulics systems after the plane appeared to lose thrust as it took off.
Authorities are looking into all aspects of the doomed flight, one aviation official said. Investigative teams from the UK and US arrived Friday in Ahmedabad to assist with the crash probe.
“Like you, we want to know what happened,” Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Air India owner Tata Sons, said in a message to staff. “The Tata Group takes its responsibility to society seriously, and that includes being open about what occurred.”
Boeing shares fell 1.8% at 9:32 a.m. in New York, adding to Thursday’s 4.8% slide. Tata Sons is privately held.
