IndiGo Flight Crisis: Probe Panel Calls All-Airline Meeting Today, To Review 'Technical Glitch' Issue

The committee looking into the chaos at Indian airports due to large-scale flight cancellations, has summoned not only IndiGo but all airlines for a high-level meeting on Wednesday (December 17).

The probe is looking into the critical system failures, and will be taking up the issue of the “major technical glitch” that led to the IndiGo crisis.   

A full-fledged meeting on aviation safety and industry accountability has been scheduled, with the investigating committee expanding the scope of its inquiry. It will hold meetings with IndiGo and other airlines, signalling a focus on systemic failures across the sector and extending the spotlight beyond a single operator.

It will examine the severe technical crisis that paralysed operations, leading flight

systems to fall flat for many hours and necessitating manual revival. Essential flight controls and information systems were non-operational for extended periods, requiring complex human intervention to restore functionality.

Top government officials from the ministry of civil aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will also be part of the meeting, which is anticipated to address how the widespread failures occurred and how future manual restoration scenarios can be avoided.

Below is a schedule outlined for the meeting:

3 pm to 3.30 pm: The session on pilot availability, duty-time compliance and operations stress issues will be attended by ALPA-India, FIP, ICPA, IPG among others.

3.30 pm to 4 pm: The session on operation disruptions, delays, diversions, and GNSS-interference reports will be attended by airline operators.

4 pm to 4.30 pm: The session on recent ATC/GPS spoofing disruptions, ATC preparedness, and passenger-handling measures will be attended by AAI.

4.30 pm to 5 pm: Briefing on revised FDTL norms and related issues will be attended by ministry of civil aviation and DGCA.

The meeting comes two days after the four-member panel, set up by Director General of Civil Aviation Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, visited the IndiGo headquarters as part of the ongoing probe. During the visit, it checked multiple aspects of the operations that could have resulted in the disruptions.

The four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, has been tasked with identifying the root causes of widespread operational disruptions. Its mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline’s preparedness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots.

(With agency inputs)