Indigo fined Rs 30 lakh for tail strikes, DGCA find 'systemic deficiencies'

The aviation regulator has fined IndiGo Rs 30 lakh after the airline suffered four tail strike incidents on its A321 aircraft this year.

A tail strike occurs when the rear end of an aircraft's body, also called an aft fuselage, scrapes the runway during landing or takeoff. Such incidents can damage a plane.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it conducted a special audit of the airline's documentation and procedure on operations, training, engineering, and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) programme. "During the special audit, certain systemic deficiencies were observed in M/s Indigo Airlines documentation pertaining to operations/training procedures and engineering procedures," it said.

"IndiGo has been given one month time to possibly appeal against the order. IndiGo is examining the DGCA order and shall respond to the DGCA order in due time," the airline said. 

The airline was asked to reply to a show-cause issued and its response was unsatisfactory when reviewed at "various levels", said DGCA. It was also asked to amend its documents and procedures as required by the aviation regulator and in line with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) guidelines.

"IndiGo responded to the DGCA show cause notice on 19 July 2023 indicating that there is no violation of procedures laid down by OEM and approved in the regulatory manuals," the airline noted. 

DGCA, last week, suspended two pilots involved for a June 15 tail strike at the Ahmedabad airport. The pilot-in-command was suspended for three months and the co-pilot for a month.

In June, an IndiGo plane suffered a tail strike on its arrival at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The airline’s planes suffered tail strikes at the Nagpur airport in April and Kolkata in January.

Indigo is the country's largest domestic airline, holding around 63 per cent market share. The company has given the world's largest single-tranche aircraft order with Airbus for 500 A320 family planes last month.

The airline has split this aircraft order into 375 A321neo and 125 A320neo planes.

These planes will be delivered between 2030 and 2035.