AAIB to investigate all IndiGo tail strikes

The DGCA had earlier imposed a penalty of ₹30 lakh on IndiGo for four tail strikes in a span of six months.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

With an IndiGo A321 Neo aircraft scraping the runway in Chennai earlier this month — the sixth known incident in two years — the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is now digging into every prior tail strike by the airline.

“Due to the criticality of the recent cases as well as the frequent occurrence of tail strikes at IndiGo, we have decided to investigate them in totality,” a senior AAIB official told The Hindu. The official said it will be investigating various factors such as training or procedural lapses, air crew profiling and any glaring pattern behind the incidents.

On March 8, 2025, the tail section of an IndiGo Airbus A321 Neo aircraft from Mumbai hit the runway at the Chennai airport during landing. The aircraft registered as VT-IBI was also involved in a previous tail strike on September 9, 2024, following which it was grounded for over five months for maintenance until February 6. The aircraft conducted 190 flights before it encountered another tail hit in March.

Both the pilots on the Mumbai-Chennai flight were “reasonably” experienced. The flight was an annual proficiency check flight for a Captain, under the supervision of a Trainer. At the time of landing, the Trainer was commanding the flight, said sources.

Significant damage

Initial investigation into the incident was carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), but as there were significant internal damage to the aircraft due to the scraping of its tail section, it was categorised as a “serious incident” and the probe transferred to the AAIB. A serious incident is one where there was a high probability of an accident. 

The investigation into the September 9 tail strike of IndiGo, which was also categorised as a serious incident, is still under way. Airbus has also submitted its inputs to the probe agency. “All incidents will be examined in-depth, and a report will be released shortly,” the above-quoted AAIB official said.

There were no comments available from IndiGo or Airbus.

In July 2023, the DGCA imposed a penalty of ₹30 lakh on IndiGo for as many as four tail strikes in a span of six months. It found “systemic deficiencies pertaining to operations, training procedures and engineering procedures”. Specifically, it was concerned over the use of a “flap” configuration recommended by IndiGo to its pilots in order to reduce fuel consumption and save costs. Flaps are movable surfaces on the trailing edge of an aircraft’s wings that help control lift and drag (or friction).