india

Updated: Sep 06, 2019 08:05 IST

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday suspended two pilots of IndiGo for two months for flying a Hyderabad-Vijaywada flight with the tail prop attached, even though they were informed about it by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) immediately after take-off

The incident happened on July 24, said a DGCA official.

Tail props are supposed to provide support to the aircraft while it’s on the ground, and when it is airborne, it is not supposed to be hanging.

The Aviation regulator DGCA said the Air Traffic Controller immediately informed the pilots about it, but instead of returning back to Hyderabad, they kept flying.

“Investigation revealed that the flight crew were informed immediately after take off by the ATC regarding departure of aircraft with tail prop attached. However, the crew continued to destination instead of returning back to Hyderabad. This could have caused structural damage to the aircraft during flight,” the DGCA said in the suspension order.

The DGCA issued a show-cause notice to both the pilots and in their reply, both of them admitted to the mistake.