Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau Flags Flight-Data Monitoring Gaps at Garg Aviation After Fatal August 27 Kanpur Training Crash, Preliminary Report Released September 28

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released a preliminary report on September 28, 2026, finding that Garg Aviation did not comply with prescribed flight-data monitoring requirements for flying training organizations following the fatal crash of its Tecnam P2006T aircraft VT-NBV in Kanpur on August 27, 2026, according to Aviation Today India reporting. The finding was made in the seven-page preliminary report, though the investigation is still ongoing and the document does not establish the final cause of the accident. AAIB has recommended that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ensure Garg Aviation and other FTOs strictly follow flight-data monitoring requirements and issue specific procedures for such monitoring. According to the preliminary report, Garg Aviation told investigators that it carried out random monitoring of Garmin flight data, but no records of the monitoring were maintained and the operator had no standard operating procedure defining how the monitoring was to be conducted.

The accident occurred on August 27, 2026, when Garg Aviation's Tecnam P2006T, registration VT-NBV, was conducting a training flight from Kanpur Civil Aerodrome with two people on board, a trainee pilot and an instructor, both of whom were killed. The aircraft took off at around 11:11 am and at around 11:25 am made a radio telephony call reporting ops normal and that it would call again after 10 minutes, but no further call was received and no distress call was made before the crash, which destroyed the aircraft on impact. Investigators have downloaded data from the Garmin data card recovered from the wreckage and are analyzing it, with both engines retrieved and quarantined for detailed examination. Italy's ANSV and the US National Transportation Safety Board have appointed accredited representatives, while a Tecnam technical adviser is participating in the investigation.

Sources

Aviation Today India reporting published September 29, 2026 (aviationtoday.in); Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India preliminary report dated September 28, 2026 (aaib.gov.in); PressNewsAgency reporting published September 29, 2026 (pressnewsagency.org); Aerohaber reporting published September 29, 2026 (aerohaber.com)