DGCA imposes Rs 30 lakh fine on IndiGo

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday imposed a Rs 30 lakh fine on IndiGo for certain systemic deficiencies with respect to documentation pertaining to operations, training and engineering procedures.

The country's largest airline witnessed four tail strike incidents on A321 aircraft within a span of six months this year, following which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) carried out a special audit in June. In a statement, IndiGo said it is examining the DGCA order and will respond to it in due time.

The regulator said that during the special audit, it reviewed the airline's documentation and procedure on operations, training, engineering and FDM programme. FDM refers to Flight Data Monitoring.

During the special audit, certain systemic deficiencies were observed in IndiGo's documentation pertaining to operations/training procedures and engineering procedures.

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 Rs 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. OEM refers to Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Earlier this week, DGCA suspended the flying licences of two IndiGo pilots for violating safety norms as the aircraft they operated suffered a tail strike while landing at the Ahmedabad airport last month.

Meanwhile, in its statement on Friday regarding the penalty, IndiGo said after the special audit done in June in the areas of documentation and procedure on operations, training, and FDM programme, the airline was given 15 days to submit its response.

"DGCA audit was presumably conducted in view of four tail strike incidents involving A321 aircraft in the past six months," the airline said. Further, IndiGo said responded to the show cause notice on July 19, indicating that there is no violation of procedures laid down by OEM and approved in the regulatory manuals.

"However, DGCA after review of IndiGo's show cause notice has imposed a financial penalty of Rs 30 lakh on 28 July 2023. "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 in the statement.

Further, IndiGo said it would like to assure its customers that the airline has zero tolerance to any safety compromise. IndiGo is the country's largest airline and had a domestic market share of 63.2 per cent in June, as per official data.