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Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Air passengers in India likely to decline post-Air India plane crash: Report
Post recovery of Air passengers in May 2025 after the cessation of India-Pak hostilities, a report by ICICI Securities says the aviation ministry passenger travel data number indicates further decline in June. "As per daily data reported by MoCA, average daily passengers had seen a decline in May'25 following the geopolitical conflict. However, post-declaration of ceasefire, domestic air travel had returned to normalcy. Average daily passengers again declined post the unfortunate Air India accident on 12 Jun'25," the ICICI Securities report noted. According to the report the average daily passengers in April this year was at 490K, however, a decline was witnessed in May 2025 due to India-Pakistan geopolitical conflict. However, Average daily pax returned to 490l before 12 Jun'25 (before Air India incident), post which it has declined to 460k again. On the international travel side, international air travel has experienced a setback since May 2025, weighed down by geopolitical issues like the India-Pakistan conflict. Recently, Air India has reduced its international services on wide-body aircraft by 15 per cent for the next few weeks. The decision comes after the tragic loss of 241 lives on board Air India-171 flight, which crashed in Ahmedabad. "Air India cancelled 83 wide-body operations between 12 and 17 Jun'25. As per daily data reported by MoCA, average daily international passengers have declined from 118k in Apr'25 to 113k in May'25 and 102k in Jun'25," adds the report. However, ICICI securities believes that the weakness in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) price could offset the weakness seen in passenger demand in May/Jun' prices have experienced weakness as average ATF prices declined 8.2 per cent in Q1FY26 to ₹86k/KL vs. ₹94k/KL in Q4FY25. But now, because of the recent geopolitical crisis, crude oil prices are going up, which can change the dynamics for the airline sector. "On the backdrop of the current geopolitical scenario, crude oil prices have increased approx. 20 per cent since the start of Jun'25 to USD 77/bbl., as on19 Jun'25. This surge in prices may pose a threat to earnings in the seasonally weak Q2 ahead," the report said.
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
AAIB to decide black box decoding location after safety assessment: Moca
MoCA says AAIB will assess all parameters before decoding AI171 black boxes, as minister meets airlines and airports to strengthen safety and passenger response Deepak Patel New Delhi Listen to This Article Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Thursday held a high-level meeting with Indian airlines and airport operators to review safety protocols, operational continuity, and passenger facilitation, while the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will decide the location for decoding the black boxes from the crashed Air India aircraft after assessing all technical, safety, and security considerations. The ministry emphasised that it remains committed to transparency throughout the investigation and warned against media speculation, especially reports suggesting that the black boxes are being sent abroad. The meetings with airlines and airport operators came a
Mint
a day ago
- General
- Mint
Air India Plane Crash: Will black boxes be sent abroad for probe? Govt refutes claim, warns against 'speculation'
Air India Plane Crash: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Thursday refuted reports that the black boxes from the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad are being sent abroad. 'It has been reported in certain media outlets that the CVR/DFDR from the ill-fated AI171 flight is being sent abroad for retrieval and analysis. The decision regarding the location for decoding the flight recorders will be taken by the AAIB after due assessment,' the MoCA said. The investigation into the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171 near Ahmedabad is underway, with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) leading the formal inquiry. A multi-disciplinary AAIB team commenced the investigation on 12 June, the day of the tragedy, supported by experts from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM), in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) protocols. Two sets of black boxes—combining the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)—have been recovered from the Air India plane crash site, the first on 13 June and the second on 16 June. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner model is equipped with dual black box sets, which are crucial for piecing together the events leading to the crash, the MoCA informed on Thursday, a week after the fateful crash that killed 241 passengers and crew, and many on the ground. Reports have emerged suggesting that one or both of the flight recorders may be sent abroad for detailed analysis. The MoCA informed that the AAIB will decide the location for decoding the black boxes after a thorough assessment of technical, safety, and security considerations. India's recently inaugurated state-of-the-art black box laboratory at the AAIB's Udaan Bhawan facility in Delhi, opened in April 2025 with support from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, was designed to handle such investigations domestically. However, officials have indicated that if the recorders are found to be severely damaged or require advanced technology beyond the lab's current capabilities, the data may be analysed at specialised foreign facilities, with the United States being a likely destination given the aircraft's Boeing origin. The black boxes are vital for the probe into the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad: the DFDR records extensive flight parameters such as altitude, speed, and engine performance, while the CVR captures cockpit audio including pilot conversations and alarms.
India.com
a day ago
- General
- India.com
Civil Aviation Ministry Cautions Against 'Speculation' On Air India Flight 171 Probe
The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a cautionary statement on Thursday regarding reports suggesting that the flight data recorder from the crashed Air India Flight 171 would be sent abroad for analysis. "It has been reported in certain media outlets that the CVR/DFDR from the ill-fated AI171 flight is being sent abroad for retrieval and analysis," (MoCA) said. #AirIndiaPlaneCrash | Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) says, "It has been reported in certain media outlets that the CVR/DFDR from the ill-fated AI171 flight is being sent abroad for retrieval and analysis. The decision regarding the location for decoding the flight recorders… — June 19, 2025 The Ministry urged stakeholders to refrain from speculation on this matter and asked them to allow the probe process to unfold with the professionalism it warrants. "The Ministry of Civil Aviation urges all stakeholders to refrain from speculation on such sensitive matters and to allow the investigative process to proceed with the seriousness and professionalism it warrants," Ministry added.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
AAIB to decide where to analyse black boxes of crashed Air India plane after assessing ‘technical, safety, security' considerations
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will take a call on where the black boxes of the doomed Air India Boeing 787 will be decoded after assessing all technical, safety, and security considerations, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said Thursday, indicating that no decision has been taken yet on whether the data recorder will be analysed in India or will be sent abroad. The ministry's remarks came amid reports and speculation that the black box—flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder—may be sent to the US as AAIB's black box lab might not be fully equipped to handle damaged units. 'It has been reported in certain media outlets that the CVR/DFDR (cockpit voice recorder/digital flight data recorder) from the ill-fated AI171 flight is being sent abroad for retrieval and analysis. The decision regarding the location for decoding the flight recorders will be taken by the AAIB after due assessment of all technical, safety, and security considerations. The Ministry of Civil Aviation urges all stakeholders to refrain from speculation on such sensitive matters and to allow the investigative process to proceed with the seriousness and professionalism it warrants,' MoCA said in a release. 'The AAIB investigation is progressing steadily with all necessary support from local authorities and agencies. Key recovery work, including site documentation and evidence collection, has been completed, and further analysis is now underway,' MoCA said, giving an update on the probe. Boeing 787 aircraft have two combined black box sets, each with the joint functions of CVR and DFDR. According to industry insiders, the combined black box is called an Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR), and regulations require two units to be located in the aircraft—one at the front and one at the aft, or rear section—for redundancy, in case of unit is significantly damaged or is never recovered. The first EAFR were recovered on June 13 from the crash site in Ahmedabad, just a day after the crash, while the second was recovered on June 16. The government has so far not commented on the extent of damage the black boxes suffered in the crash. The purpose of the DFDR is to record flight data on numerous parameters of aircraft operations, while the CVR records the flight crew's voices, as well as other sounds inside the cockpit, including engine noise, stall warnings, landing gear extension and retraction, and other clicks and pops. Communications with air traffic control, automated radio weather briefings, and conversation between the pilots and ground or cabin crew are also recorded. Sources indicated that deliberations are underway on whether to send units to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Vehicle Recorder Laboratory in the US for data extraction and analysis, or perform the exercise at the AAIB's new black box lab in Delhi, but a decision is yet to be taken. The NTSB is already assisting the AAIB in the probe as the aircraft was manufactured in the US by an American company—Boeing. 'It will depend on the condition. The investigators will have to ascertain the absolute integrity of the black boxes, and if they are confident about it, they would like to analyse them at the new lab instead of sending it to an overseas facility,' a source had earlier told The Indian Express. 'The new (AAIB) lab is a world-class facility but there are highly specialised labs in a few countries that may be superior. If the investigators feel that the DFDR or the CVR are not in a state that the AAIB lab can handle, or if the extent of data analysis that they require for the probe is beyond its capability, then they might decide to send it to an even more advanced facility, most likely in the US as the aircraft involved was a Boeing plane,' said another source, adding that if the units are sent abroad an AAIB team will accompany them to ensure their 'safety, security, and integrity'. The new and advanced AAIB lab, built by support of government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and inaugurated in April, has enhanced the agency's ability to repair damaged black boxes, retrieve data, and conduct thorough analyses of accidents with high accuracy. Earlier, a black box lab under the aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was being used by the AAIB, but the facility was old and lacked the a few key capabilities needed for thorough and accurate data retrieval and analysis, said a source. That was one of the reasons why a number of black boxes from aircraft involved in serious accidents were sent to overseas labs, said a source. Last Thursday's crash claimed the lives of 241 of 242 people on board the plane that was operating Air India flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. Lives were also lost on the ground as the plane crashed into a medical college hostel close to the Ahmedabad airport. This is the first wide-body crash for an Indian airline in four decades. It is also the first crash of a Boeing 787 globally. Both the black boxes are expected to play a critical role in the air crash investigation. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
