Seven families of victims of the AI 171 crash received a ‘second set’ of remains from the Civil Hospital. These remains were from the 16 more found at the wreckage site in Meghaninagar during post-disaster operations, and were matched with DNA samples provided by kin. This handover may mean a second funeral for some victims. A consent form had been distributed among relatives of the deceased, including passengers, crew members, doctors, their relatives and local residents, which sought permission to carry out last rites of remains that may be found during the further clearing of the spot or during medical analysis, said an official. Out of the remaining 10, nine have consented to the hospital carrying out last rites, whereas a response from one family of the victim is awaited, said a sources.
The families, all from different parts of Gujarat, including Anand, Nadiad, and Ahmedabad, had asked hospital authorities to approach them in case of a DNA match. The sources said that the new set of remains is minuscule compared to the first. “Some have part of the body, whereas some have one or more bones. Due to the nature of the crash, it is possible that victims’ bodies underwent intense distress that may have caused the fragmentation,” said an official associated with the process. At the end of June, the state health department put the death toll in the disaster at 260. The figure included 229 passengers and 12 crew members, totalling 241. The remaining 19 people lost their lives on the ground. These included four medical students, four relatives of doctors and students living at the medical hostel in Meghaninagar, and at least five residents of the locality including a couple, a child and a youth.
Probe team submits preliminary report
Meanwhile, the team investigating the Ahmedabad Air India plane crash has submitted its preliminary report to the civil aviation ministry, sources said. It is still not known what conclusion the investigators from Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau have arrived upon into the crash that resulted in the death of 260 people. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely recovered, and on June 25, 2025, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab. Sources said that a duplicate black box - known as a “golden chassis”- was used to verify the successful recovery of the data. One black box was found on the rooftop of a building at the crash site on June 13, and the second was retrieved from the wreckage on June 16.
The investigation is being led by AAIB officials and includes technical experts from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which represents the country where the aircraft was designed and manufactured. The probe is being overseen by the Director General of AAIB. The investigation team also includes an aviation medicine specialist and an Air Traffic Control officer. Sources confirmed that the NTSB team is currently based in Delhi and working closely with Indian authorities at the AAIB Lab. Representatives
from Boeing and GE are also in the capital to support the technical analysis.
