Kumar Bahukhandi
Digital video recorder recovered from the wreckage of Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad-Photo- Credit-PTI
The DVR and black box have been recovered from the wreckage of Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft AI-171, which crashed soon after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and landed in a nearby residential complex.
Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday June 13, 2025 recovered the digital video recorder (DVR) from the wreckage of the Air India plane, a day after the tragic crash of the plane near Ahmedabad airport. According to sources, the black box of the crashed plane has also been recovered. Both these devices are very important evidence in finding out the causes of a plane crash. The DVR was found among the debris of Air India’s ‘Boeing 787 Dreamliner’ aircraft, which crashed on Thursday June 12, 2025 soon after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, and fell into a nearby residential complex.
The tail portion of the plane fell on the UG hostel mess of BJ Medical College in Meghani Nagar, causing extensive damage to the building and killing 24 medical students present there. Several medical and nursing students are injured and are being treated in the hospital. A Gujarat ATS official present at the spot said, “This is a DVR, which we have recovered from the debris. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team will soon come here and examine the device, which may provide important clues about the sequence of events leading to the accident.”
The recovery of the DVR and the black box will help gather information about what happened in the last moments of the unfortunate plane crash .As maqny as 265 people lost their lives in this horrific plane crash that took place in Ahmedabad on Thursday June 12, 2025 . Air India flight AI-171 took off for London’s Gatwick Airport with 242 passengers and crew members. The passengers included 169 Indian citizens, 53 British citizens, 7 Portuguese citizens and one Canadian citizen, while a total of 12 crew members including two pilots were present in the flight.
Let us tell you that there is a difference between DVR and black box. Both DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and black box have the function of recording data, but DVR usually records flight video from security cameras, while black box records flight data and cockpit audio.
DVR often records video footage from security cameras for surveillance purposes. Video data recorded from DVR is usually stored on hard drive or cloud storage. DVR mainly records visual data. On the other hand, black box (flight Data Recorder) records flight data such as aircraft speed, altitude, engine thrust, etc. and cockpit audio (pilot conversation). Specialised recorders are used in black box which are designed not to be damaged even in the event of a severe accident.
