In a significant security move, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has provided X-category protection to Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Director General GVG Yugandhar following an Intelligence Bureau threat assessment that flagged possible risks tied to his ongoing investigation of the Ahmedabad plane crash.

According to officials, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos have been assigned for the personal protection of Yugandhar, who is heading a high-profile multidisciplinary probe.

The AAIB had formed an expert team on June 13 to investigate the tragic crash, in line with both national rules and international aviation standards. The investigation team includes specialists in aviation medicine, air traffic control, as well as experts from the US-based National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Authorities confirmed that black box data, including both the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR), is being thoroughly analyzed to reconstruct what led to the crash.

The CVR was recovered from a rooftop at the crash site on June 13, and the FDR was located in the wreckage three days later. Both crucial devices were secured under round-the-clock police surveillance and CCTV monitoring in Ahmedabad.

On June 24, the Indian Air Force transported the black boxes to Delhi under tight security. The devices reached the AAIB Lab the same day, with Director General Yugandhar supervising the transfer.

By June 25, the technical teams had extracted and downloaded the memory module data from the devices, starting the painstaking process of analyzing key flight parameters and cockpit conversations to determine the cause of the crash and improve future safety measures.