India’s air safety watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given Indigo airlines time till January 2020 to change the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines on the Airbus A320neo aircraft. The P&W engines have to be changed in 97 aircraft.
This came after multiple incidents where aircraft had to turn back or have reported inflight shutdowns.
The incidents have caused “serious concern” and the decision to order the engines to be replaced was taken after “considerable deliberations”, DGCA said in a statement.
It has advised Indigo to replace the 97 engines with modified low-pressure turbine (LPT) for both the engines. If Indigo does not make these replacements by Jan 2020, then those aircrafts will not be allowed to fly.
“You will appreciate that four successive events have not happened ever before, and therefore, we call for urgent and effective action. We regret the inconvenience, but we need desperate measures to put things in order,” the DGCA said.
“This situation cannot be allowed to go on indefinitely,” it said, adding that the engines would need to be replaced by January 31, 2020.
DGCA Chief Arun Kumar added that this directive has only been issued to Indigo. GoAir, on the other hand, which also uses the same Airbus A32neo has not been told to make the change.
With more than 25 years of experience in defence publishing, Global Business Press and its industry leading titles Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace and Daily News are the leading defence publications in the region, present at more international shows and exhibitions than any other competing publication in the region.
Copyright 2022. GBP. All Rights Reserved.