India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has identified clearance and communication failures in its final report on an Air India Express runway incursion at Dabolim Airport, Goa, on April 3, 2026. This is an investigation report about an earlier incident.
What happened at Dabolim
The AAIB report, listed on the bureau’s official updates page, concerns Boeing 737-800 VT-BXL, flight AXB1109 to Delhi. It entered the runway while a Navy fighter was taking off. The passenger flight subsequently landed safely in Delhi. No injuries or damage to either aircraft were reported.
Findings and safety action
AAIB’s probable-cause assessment says the crew misinterpreted an instruction to expect backtracking and entered without explicit clearance. It also identifies failure to follow holding-point instructions. Contributory factors include trainee distraction and the ground controller’s failure to correct an incomplete readback.
Recommendations cover crew training, standard radio phraseology, reviewing taxiway N2 as a hotspot, publishing stop-bar information and clearer frequency handovers. The report records revised civil–military handover procedures after the incident. Its stated purpose is accident prevention, rather than assigning legal liability.
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