News
Indian regulator probes A320neo incidents
March 10th 2017
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating a string of incidents in the last month that involved A320neos powered by Pratt & Whitney’s (P&W’s) geared turbofan (GTF) engines. Read More » Part of the regulator’s on-going two-week investigation involved the inspection of all sixteen A320neos at IndiGo Airlines and five of the aircraft type at GoAir, The Times of India reported.
"Airlines have been asked to carry out one-time boroscopic inspections of all engines that have completed 1,000 hours instead of 1,500 hours recommended by manufacturer and repeat inspection at every 500 hours," a DGCA official told the newspaper.
The DGCA has advised airlines to immediately withdraw neos from service if metal chips have been detected in the engine oil, overriding manufacturer instructions that said affected aircraft could still be flown for up to ten hours following detection.
Two GoAir A320neo aircraft made emergency landings following technical issues in February. Also an IndiGo A320neo aborted take-off when one of its engines developed a fault while accelerating.
"Although we continue to face a few operational issues with the neo engine, both Pratt & Whitney and Airbus are working to address these issues," IndiGo said. "In the meantime, we continue to receive the necessary operational and technical support, including the provision of spare engines, to mitigate the operational impact on us."
IndiGo is the world’s largest neo operator with 17 aircraft in active service and another 413 A320neo Family aircraft on order, including 20 A321neo.
"Pratt & Whitney, with the support of Airbus, is in close contact with the Indian authorities to address technical issues and provide solutions in a timely manner. We are actively working with our customers in India and are supporting them in their daily operations,” P&W told Orient Aviation.
India’s third neo operator, flag carrier Air India, has not reported any issues with the aircraft. It selected CFM International’s LEAP-1A to power its neos, the rival engine to P&W’s GTF.
