India's civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the two pilots of AirAsia India who were involved in a ground incident at Bagdogra airport in February.

The period of suspension is for six months since the incident, which took place on February 15.

The pilots were found violating the laid down procedures as they initiated 180-degree turn from the runway while backtracking which led to damage of the left-hand sharklet of the aircraft, a senior official said.

The aircraft VT-ATB, an Airbus A320 make, was operating from Bagdogra to Bengaluru.

While the regulator had given the airline 15 days to submit an explanation as to why action shouldn't be taken against the flight crew in an order dated June 28, the reply wasn't found satisfactory.