The breakthrough is likely to bring investigators closer to understanding what happened to the doomed Air India aircraft.

The site of the Air India plane crash

The Air India plane crashed earlier this month (Image: Getty)

Information from the black boxes on board the doomed Air India flight that crashed on June 12 have been successfully recovered and downloaded. 

A flight data recorder (FDR) and a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were retrieved following AI171 crash moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport.

One was found on the rooftop of the hostel into which the plane crashed and the other from the wreckage of the fuselage.

However, they were damaged in the crash and there were doubts over whether the data could be retrieved and used in the inquiry into the air disaster.

Invalid email

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy

In a huge breakthrough, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had successfully extractied the Crash Protection Module, or CPM, and the memory module, and downloaded all data.

This should help investigators determine what the cause of the crash was that killed at least 270 people - 240 on board the plane and by-standers near the place of impact.

Both boxes were securely transported to the AAIB lab in Delhi on Tuesday, according to India's government.

MORE TO FOLLOW