The oversight body for civil aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), fined IndiGo Airlines 30 lakhs and ordered them to update its policies and processes to comply with OEM standards.
In the course of six months this year, IndiGo experienced four tail strike accidents on A321 aircraft, which prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct a special audit of the company.
The DGCA stated in a release that it examined the airline’s paperwork and policies on operations, training, engineering, and the FDM programme during the audit.
“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 Monitoring programme. During the special audit, certain systemic deficiencies were observed in Indigo Airline’s documentation pertaining to operations/training procedures and engineering procedures,” said DGCA.
A show cause notice was issued to the airline and DGCA said the carrier’s reply “was reviewed at various levels and was not found satisfactory“.
“Subsequently, DGCA has imposed a financial penalty of ₹30 lakh on IndiGo Airlines and also directed them to amend their documents and procedures in line with DGCA requirements and OEM guidelines,” the release said.
IndiGo Airlines was also sent a show cause notice by the DGCA, with instructions to respond within the allotted time frame. The response was examined at numerous levels but was not deemed adequate. The DGCA has since fined Indigo Airlines 30 lakhs and ordered them to change its policies and documentation to comply with DGCA criteria and OEM standards.
A few structural flaws were found in IndiGo’s documentation of its operations/training processes and engineering procedures during the special examination.
According to a senior source, the aviation regulator DGCA already banned the flying privileges of two IndiGo pilots for breaking safety regulations after the aircraft they were piloting experienced a tail strike while landing at the Ahmedabad airport last month.
The licence of the Pilot-In-Command (PIC) has been suspended for three months, and that of the co-pilot for one month, according to a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), who made the announcement on Wednesday.
