Aviation watchdog DGCA on Monday ordered IndiGo and GoAir to immediately ground eleven A320 neo planes powered with a certain series of Pratt & Whitney engines after three incidents of mid-air engine failures in less than a month.
Concerns over safety of such planes increased with another engine failure forcing emergency landing of IndiGo flight at Ahmedabad airport on Monday, and the regulator has cracked the whip saying that there is no concrete proposal in place at this stage to address the issue.
A total of fourteen A320 neo aircraft fitted with specific series of engines — 11 are operated by IndiGo and 3 by GoAir — have now been grounded. Three IndiGo planes are already on the ground following the problem.
Citing safety of aircraft operations, the DGCA said, A320 neos fitted with PW1100 engines beyond ESN 450 have been grounded with immediate effect.
“Both IndiGo and GoAir have been told not to refit these engines, which are spare with them in their inventory,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release.
It said it will be in touch with stakeholders and review the situation in due course and when the issue is addressed by European regulator EASA and P&W.
A senior DGCA official said 8 aircraft of IndiGo would be grounded.
“We are in receipt of the communication from the DGCA and we shall promptly comply with the directions of the DGCA. Upon implementation of the directive, IndiGo shall have a total of nine A320neo aircraft on ground,” an IndiGo spokesperson said.
However, there is a mismatch between the number of grounded planes given by the DGCA and IndiGo while clarity is awaited from the latter.
“GoAir has received the directive from the DGCA for immediate grounding of all late serial number PW GTF engines. We have complied immediately,” a GoAir spokesperson said.
In a statement, P&W said, it is working closely with customers to minimise disruption.
“The corrective action has been approved and we have already begun to deliver production engines with the upgraded configuration. We are working to mitigate the Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situation by the end of the second quarter,” it added.
Sources said the grounding of A320 neo aircraft will have an impact on the flight operations of IndiGo and GoAir. It is rare for the Indian regulator to ground aircraft and the latest one is at least only the third such instance in decades.
Back in 1990, A320 planes operated by then Indian Airlines were grounded following a deadly crash that had killed 89 people. later in 2013, Air India's Boeing 737 aircraft were grounded in the wake of lithium battery issues. Both bans were subsequently revoked.
According to the regulator, P&W in its latest communication has also not given any firm commitment as to when the issue on the engine post serial number 450 would be resolved.
P&W has also informed that “all the affected engines will be replaced by early June 2018”, the DGCA said, adding that there is no concrete proposal in place at this stage to address the issue.
In less than three weeks, there have been as many incidents of in-flight shut down of A320 neos fitted with one P&W 1100 engine.