The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India) has urged the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to issue formal safety recommendations on tailstrike protection, simulator training and aircraft design, arguing that recurring incidents involving the Airbus A321 family point to a “systemic and institutional” problem rather than individual pilot error.
“The pattern of recurrence demonstrates that the root cause of these events is systemic and institutional — not individual pilot failure,” ALPA India said in a letter to the AAIB dated August 31.
Gorakhpur incident raises alarm
The pilots’ body said the recent Gorakhpur incident where an IndiGo flight had a tailstrike event, was the seventh confirmed tailstrike involving an A321-family aircraft on the Indian civil register since 2020, and the second such incident at a tier-2 airport in 2026.
It said the aircraft was grounded and the crew de-rostered pending an investigation.
{{/usCountry}}It said the aircraft was grounded and the crew de-rostered pending an investigation.
{{/usCountry}}People aware of the matter, however, said the aircraft had subsequently returned to operations after operating a ferry flight from Gorakhpur to Delhi last week. ALPA India has asked the AAIB to issue safety recommendations to the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) covering A321NEO-specific simulator training and tailstrike protection.
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It sought a recommendation directing the DGCA to audit the adequacy of A321NEO simulator training at all approved training organisations and set a six-month compliance timeline for procuring, or securing contracted access to, qualified full-flight simulators. ALPA India said that “no Approved Training Organisation (ATO) in India has publicly confirmed availability of an A321NEO Full Flight Simulator (Level D) with validated NEO-specific Flare Law fidelity.