On Friday, the DGCA, the directorate general of civil Aviation, imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh to IndiGo for four tail strikes in a span of six months this year. The agency said it carried out investigations when it found some deficiencies in the airline's documents pertaining to operations, training and engineering procedures.
In the year 2023, Indigo Airlines had four tail strike incidents on A 321 aircraft in a span of six months. DGCA carried out a special audit of M s Indigo airlines and reviewed their documentation and procedure on operations, training, engineering and FDM programme. Certain systemic deficiencies were observed in M s Indigo Airlines document pertaining to operations training procedures and engineering procedures during the special audit, the company said.
The agency issued a show cause notice to the airline, directing them to submit a reply within the stipulated time period. During review, the DGCA found that the reply was not satisfactory.
The DGCA has now imposed a financial penalty of Rs 30 lakh for M s Indigo Airlines, and also directed them to amend their documents and procedures in accordance with DGCA requirements and OEM guidelines.
The government suspended licences of the pilot and the co-pilot of the IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad, which happened to be affected by a tail strike. The commission said the pilots violated aviation regulations and SOPs.
The pilots were grounded quickly after the incident and began an investigation, the federal agency said. The DGCA said it found out that the crew had carried out the landing in deviation from established norms, following which the licence of the pilot-in-command was suspended for three months and the co-pilot for a month.
A tail strike occurs when an aeroplane's tail strikes or comes in contact with the runway during take-off or landing.
Anupam Mittal was captivated by the sweet note from the IndiGo crew.