India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an order to immediately ground 11 Airbus A320 neo aircraft over faulty engines.
Out of the 11 aircraft, eight are operated by IndiGo, while the remaining three are operated by GoAir.
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Following DGCA’s safety directive, both domestic carriers cancelled more than 50 flights.
A repeated malfunction occurring with certain models of Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines used to power the A320 neo aircraft prompted the grounding order.
The issue with the engine stems from one of its parts showing early signs of wear. The engine part is placed in an area that must withstand high pressure, reported business-standard.com.
A recent issue with an IndiGo aircraft flying with a faulty engine on the Ahmedabad-Lucknow route in India on 12 March has also affected the DGCA decision.
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By GlobalDataShortly after take-off, the aircraft developed a mid-air hitch and had to return to Ahmedabad.
The order follows a cautionary notice issued by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) last month regarding the PW1100G engines manufactured by P&W.
In a statement cited by indianexpress.com, DGCA said: “EASA has informed that they are evaluating some interim proposals and will be revising the emergency airworthiness directive in due course, as soon as the current affected engines will be modified with a safer interim design.
“P&W, in their latest communication, has also not given any firm commitment as to when the issue on the engine will be resolved, and informed that all the affected engines will be replaced by early June 2018.”
IndiGo has revealed its intention to ground six aircraft, in addition to the three planes that withdrew operation last month after the EASA directive.
