The recovery operations at the crash site near Tiruporur took a significant step forward on Saturday morning when Air Force engineers located and retrieved the black box of the Indian Air Force (IAF) training aircraft that went down the previous afternoon.

The device, buried under nearly ten feet of thick slush, was recovered after several hours of meticulous digging by the search teams. The discovery was made around 11.30 am, after which the flight data recorder was carefully cleaned, inspected, and secured for analysis by IAF technical personnel.

Senior district officials, including Chengalpattu District Revenue Officer Ganesh Kumar and Tiruporur Tahsildar Saravanan, visited the crash site to assist and coordinate with the Air Force recovery teams. 

DRO Kumar confirmed that the black box and other major components of the wreckage had been recovered and handed over to IAF authorities. He added that a comprehensive technical investigation would now be undertaken to determine the cause of the accident.

The ill-fated aircraft was a Pilatus PC-7 MK-II trainer, one of the IAF’s standard basic training platforms used at various air force academies across the country.

It had taken off from Tambaram Air Force Station around noon on Friday for a routine training sortie. The aircraft was piloted by Subham, a 30-year-old trainee pilot from Uttar Pradesh, who was reportedly undertaking advanced flight exercises under supervisory monitoring.

During the sortie, while flying over the OMR–ECR corridor near Tiruporur, the pilot noticed a technical malfunction and immediately contacted Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Tambaram to report the issue. 

Realising the aircraft was becoming increasingly unstable, he initiated emergency procedures and attempted a controlled descent. However, the aircraft soon became uncontrollable, compelling him to eject using his parachute system. He landed safely in an open area and escaped without injuries.

The Pilatus subsequently crashed into a muddy, open field located behind a private salt manufacturing unit along the Tiruporur–Nemmeli Road. On impact, the trainer aircraft exploded, scattering debris over a wide area and embedding several components deep into the slush.

Within minutes of the crash, a rescue team from the IAF arrived by helicopter from Tambaram to secure the site and prevent civilian access. Security personnel remained onsite overnight to guard the debris and assist in the subsequent technical retrieval efforts.

Early the next morning, nearly 50 IAF officers and technicians returned to the site to continue recovery operations. Two earthmovers and a crane were deployed to help excavate the wreckage buried deep in the mud.

Search efforts were hampered by difficult terrain and the waterlogged condition of the soil, but engineers worked systematically to locate and extract critical components, including the engine fragments, flight control systems, and avionics assemblies.


The recovered black box will now be thoroughly examined by IAF investigators to extract flight data and cockpit voice recordings. These will help establish the sequence of technical events that led to the crash and identify possible mechanical or procedural failures.

Preliminary findings are expected to contribute to the broader safety review process of the Pilatus training fleet, which remains an integral part of India’s aircrew training syllabus.

Local authorities expressed appreciation for the swift response and professionalism shown by the IAF personnel during both the rescue and recovery operations.

The pilot’s timely decision-making and successful ejection averted the loss of life, though the incident has raised concerns about the operational reliability of legacy training platforms operating under varied environmental conditions.

Agencies