*

Black boxes recovered, data extraction underway in Delhi

Crash Protection Module safely retrieved and data accessed

CVR and FDR analysis may reveal critical details

(Adds details, background, in paragraphs 2-3, 6-10)

NEW DELHI, June 26 (Reuters) - Efforts are underway to

reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the Air India

plane crash this month that killed 260 people, and identify

contributing factors, India's civil aviation ministry said on

Thursday.

The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed

moments after takeoff from India's Ahmedabad city on June 12,

killing 241 of the 242 people on board and the rest on ground in

the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

The black boxes of the plane - the cockpit voice

recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) - were recovered

in the days that followed, one from the rooftop of a building at

the crash site on June 13, and the other from the debris on June

16.

They were transported to national capital Delhi on

Tuesday, where a team led by India's Aircraft Accident

Investigation Bureau began extracting their data, the ministry

said in a statement.

"The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black

box was safely retrieved, and...the memory module was

successfully accessed and its data downloaded...the analysis of

CVR and FDR data is underway," it said.

The CPM is the core part of a black box that houses and

protects data recorded during a crash.

India said last week that it was yet to decide where the

black boxes would be analysed. The data retrieved from them

could provide critical clues into the aircraft's performance and

any conversations between the pilots preceding the crash.

The air disaster has also brought renewed attention to

violations of norms by airlines in the country.

India's aviation regulator said on Tuesday that multiple

instances of

aircraft defects reappearing

were found at the Mumbai and Delhi airports - two of

India's busiest.

Reuters has reported that warnings were given by India's

aviation regulator to Air India, which has come under increased

scrutiny since the crash, including for permitting some aircraft

to fly despite

emergency equipment checks

being overdue.

The airline has also been warned for

violations

related to pilot duty scheduling and oversight.

Air India has said it had implemented the authority's

directions and was committed to ensuring adherence to safety

protocols.

It also said it was accelerating verification of

maintenance records and would complete the process in the coming

days.