With three incidents of mid-air engine failures in less than a month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered the immediate grounding of 11 A320 neo planes of IndiGo and GoAir that are powered with Pratt & Whitney engines. With this, 14 A320 neo aircraft fitted with specific series of engines — 11 are operated by IndiGo and 3 by GoAir — have now been grounded in the past one month. The DGCA action came soon after engine failure forcing emergency landing of an IndiGo flight at Ahmedabad airport. The grounding of these flights is expected to have an effect on the operations of both IndiGo and GoAir. According to an official statement, “keeping in mind the safety of aircraft operations, 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.” Pratt and Whitney’s spokesperson said the firm was 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. The DGCA 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”. According to the DGCA, the 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 said that “all the affected engines will be replaced by early June 2018″, the DGCA said. However, there is “no concrete proposal in place at this stage to address the issue”, it added.
Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/
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