Air India plane crash: Here's what we know about the investigation so far

The tragic Air India plane crash has left many devastated. Air India flight AI-171, operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12, 2025, was involved in an accident. The crash claimed 270 lives.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is one of the most advanced jets in service and experts say it has a generally strong safety record, with no previous fatal accidents.

As of Thursday, 211 victims have been identified through DNA matching, while 189 bodies handed over to their families.

As the investigation is under way, let us take a look what we know about it so far:

CCTV video clip

One of the strongest pieces of evidence that investigators are reviewing is a 59-second CCTV video clip that clearly shows the takeoff and the crash of the plane.

The video shows the plane taking off, gains some altitude, flies flat for a couple of seconds, and then starts descending with its tail down.

The descent of the plane starts roughly 17 seconds after takeoff. There is no fire visible around the engine or elsewhere when the plane appears to start going down, and has already crossed the airport boundary wall.

The landing gear visibly remains open throughout the clip.

Possible causes

Investigators are considering at least three key possible issues, first any issues related to engine thrust, which is the force produced by the engine to push it forward through the air. Investigators are also looking at any possible operational issues with flaps.

Officials are also assessing why was the landing gear was open for so long after takeoff.

Emergency power system

Investigators believe that the emergency power generator was operating when it crashed, as per a report.

The system, known as the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), generates electricity and hydraulic pressure to ensure pilots can control the plane even if both engines fail.

The preliminary finding raise questions about whether the plane's engines functioned properly during takeoff, the report said.

Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran said that the flight that crashed had a clean engine history.

He said that its right engine was new and installed in March this year and that the left engine was last serviced in 2023.

Recovery of black box

On June 13, Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) was recovered. A Black Box is a machine that records information about the aircraft while on flight. While in some cases both CVR and DFDR are integrated to form a single black box, in most cases, CVR and DFDR are separate.

A second black box Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) was also recovered.

As per recent reports, India will be sending the black box to the US.

The recorder is said to have "sustained heavy external damage" which has made it "impossible to extract data in India".

(With Reuters, PTI, and DHNS inputs)