AHMEDABAD: Recovery efforts at the site of Air India Flight AI 171’s crash in Ahmedabad uncovered the aircraft’s black box and 29 additional bodies on Friday, raising the death toll to 274, making it the deadliest single-plane disaster in Indian aviation history. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, 2025, carried 241 passengers and crew, but the rising casualty count indicates 33 victims were likely on the ground, possibly including medical professionals, students, and residents of Ahmedabad’s BJ Medical College campus in the Meghaninagar area.
The black box, critical for investigating the cause of the crash, was found on the rooftop of the college’s student mess, as reported by Joint Commissioner of Police (Sector 1) . The aircraft’s emergency location transmitter was recovered the previous night. Search operations continued overnight, focusing on the heavily impacted campus buildings and surrounding areas.