DGCA Fines IndiGo Rs 30 Lakh For Four Tail Strikes In 6 Months, Issues Show-Cause Notice

The development comes just a few after DGCA suspended the flying licence of two IndiGo pilots after they violated safety norms and SoPs while landing at Ahmedabad airport.

IndiGo experienced four tail strike incidents on A321 aircraft within a span of six months this year.

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New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on IndiGo Airlines and directed them to amend their documents and procedures in line with DGCA requirements and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) guidelines, news agency ANI reported. This comes in the wake of the airlines having experienced four tail strike incidents on A321 aircraft within a span of six months this year.

The DGCA had ordered a special audit to review the documentation and procedure on operations, training, engineering and Flight Data Monitoring programme of IndiGo Airlines. The audit report showed “certain systemic deficiencies in Indigo Airline's documentation pertaining to operations/training procedures and engineering procedures,” the DGCA said.

Following the audit, DGCA issued a show cause notice to Indigo Airlines directing them to submit their reply within the stipulated time period.

“The reply was reviewed at various levels and was not found satisfactory. Subsequently, DGCA has imposed a financial penalty of Rs 30 lakhs on Indigo Airlines and also directed them to amend their documents and procedures in line with DGCA requirements and OEM guidelines,” DGCA said in a statement.

Indigo Airlines experienced four tail strike incidents on A321 aircraft within a span of six months in the year 2023. DGCA carried out a special audit of Indigo Airlines, and reviewed their documentation and procedure on operations, training, engineering and Flight Data… pic.twitter.com/aHUD6eg0YF

— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2023

The development comes just a couple of days after DGCA suspended the flying licence of two IndiGo pilots after they violated safety norms and Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) while landing at the Ahmedabad airport last month, a senior official said, as reported by the news agency PTI. The flying licence of the Pilot-in-Command has been suspended for three months and of the co-pilot for one month.

Earlier in June, an IndiGo aircraft operating its Bengaluru-Ahmedabad flight had suffered a tail strike while landing at the Ahmedabad airport, following which the DGCA launched a probe into the incident. Besides, it had ordered grounding of the two pilots till investigation into the incident was completed.

“On 15.06.2023, an Airbus 321 aircraft was involved in a tail strike while landing at Ahmedabad. DGCA investigation has revealed that the crew carried out the landing in deviation from established SOPs,” the official said on Wednesday, as quoted by PTI.