Ahmedabad: The crashed Ahmedabad-London Air India flight's black box has been recovered, the Ministry of Civil Aviation informed on Friday. The orange-coloured device located near the tail of a plane will help investigate the crash that has claimed 241 lives.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said, "The Flight Data Recorder (Black Box) has been recovered within 28 hours from the accident site in Ahmedabad by AAIB. This marks an important step forward in the investigation. This will significantly aid the enquiry into the incident."

The device was recovered by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) team on the rooftop of the resident doctors' hostel building that the flight hit in Ahmedabad.

Further investigation into the crash has begun following the black box recovery. Over 40 Gujarat government staff joined efforts to augment civil aviation ministry teams on the crash site, sources said.

The black box is crucial in getting to the bottom of a plane crash. The device contains a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). While the former records all technical data related to the aircraft, the latter records the cockpit conversation between two pilots until the last minute.

The crash-proof device is located near the tail of the plane because, usually, an aircraft crashes on the side of the nose.

The black box's position on the plane helps investigators locate it faster after a crash. The device is insulated to withstand intense heat, surviving temperatures as high as 1,100C for at least one hour.