The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has released its final inquiry report into a runway incident at Mumbai airport on 14 September 2023, in which a Learjet 45XR registered as VT-DBL and operated by VSR Ventures sustained a total loss on landing, leaving all eight people aboard with injuries. The six passengers and two crew members had been travelling from Visakhapatnam on a non-scheduled service. A taxiway light was also found to have sustained damage as a result of the incident.
According to the AAIB's final report, investigators attributed the accident to two converging factors: the crew's decision to continue an approach that had not been stabilised under marginal weather conditions, and handling of the aircraft that fell short of what the situation required — a combination that produced an aerodynamic stall at low altitude from which recovery proved impossible.
The investigation identified two procedural lapses among the accident's contributory factors: the flight crew's failure to track airspeed against a rising low-speed cue as required by Standard Operating Procedures, and a delay by the pilot monitoring in issuing a go-around callout, also contrary to established procedure. Among the contributing factors identified were deteriorating visibility conditions at the time of the approach, which stripped the flight crew of reliable visual references, a pronounced tailwind component, and pressure on the crew to touch down before a deadline tied to operational restrictions then in place at Mumbai airport.
The AAIB's report set out a series of recommendations directed at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, VSR Ventures, and other bodies. The bureau called on the DGCA to incorporate stall recovery exercises in landing configuration into its simulator training programme for pilots. Under the updated requirement as proposed, every simulator training session would include stall-recovery exercises covering the full range of flight phases — from climb and cruise through to approach and landing — with each exercise triggered either by a complete stall or by activation of the stall warning system.
The AAIB also put forward a proposal for the DGCA to conduct a single comprehensive audit of training documentation covering fixed-wing pilots across non-scheduled and general aviation operators, with the aim of confirming that every required exercise has been completed during each simulator session. Separately, the bureau called for formal directives to be issued to non-scheduled and general aviation operators, requiring each to establish operator-specific procedures under which flight crew complete all training obligations — emergency scenario exercises included — in line with existing regulatory standards. The report called for those frameworks to incorporate periodic checks of pilot training records so that any gaps or inconsistencies in completed training can be identified and addressed.
The AAIB recommended that the DGCA direct all non-scheduled and general aviation operators to conduct internal audits, and that those audits be subject to scrutiny during the regulator's own oversight visits and surveillance rounds covering these organisations. The investigating body further recommended that the aviation regulator issue binding guidance to all relevant operators, directing flight crews to execute a go-around at any point during an approach whenever stabilisation criteria have not been met.
Directed at VSR Ventures, the report recommended that the operator take steps to raise awareness among its flight crew about the importance of completing challenge-and-response checklists in full, verifying instrument configurations, and confirming that all onboard systems meet the conditions required for departure under established operating procedures. The AAIB also recommended that VSR Ventures provide training to its maintenance and engineering staff on the proper handling of aircraft records — including technical log books and airframe log books — so that every required entry is captured in line with established procedures.
The report additionally noted that tightening awareness among air traffic controllers about the spacing requirements that guard against wake turbulence hazards falls within the remit of the Airports Authority of India's established protocols.
