Times of
India: New Delhi: Saturday, August 31, 2019.
In
the last 2.5 years, IndiGo Airbus A320 Neos have on an average seen one faulty
Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines powering these planes being changed every
week. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has in a RTI reply said
126 PW engines on IndiGo Neos have been replaced from 2016 to June 30, 2019.
The almost once-a-week average of faulty engine replacement comes with 46
engines being replaced in calendar years 2017, 2018 each and 27 in the first
six months of this year (remaining 7 in 2016). The reply details how some
engines had to be taken off wings for replacement after flying for as less as
37, 59 and 69 hours.
With
430 A320/21 Neos on order, IndiGo is the world’s largest customer for this
aircraft. The airline inducted its first PW-powered A320 Neo on March 11, 2016,
and at present has 92 of these planes. GoAir, which has 144 A320 Neos on order,
currently has 35 PW-powered Neos. The DGCA RTI reply is for IndiGo Pratt engine
replacements alone and does not include figures for GoAir.
The
PW engines for A320 Neos have been snag-ridden from 2016 itself. Possibly for
this reason IndiGo recently opted for engines from PW competitor, CFM, for 280
Neos. Recurring snags along with the fact that India is home to the largest
customer airline for the Neo IndiGo meant that DGCA had to prescribe more
stringent checks of these engines to ensure safety.
“The
high number of engine replacement is due to India’s prescribing thorough
(borospic) checks of Neos’ PW engines. It is not all these 126 engines were
replaced after developing snags inflight or when preparing for a flight. Many
snags that led to engine replacement were revealed during checks on ground,”
said a senior DGCA official. The regulator says in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (up to
August), IndiGo and GoAir have seen 19 PW engine snags like in-flight shut
down, air turn back, rejected take off on their Neos caused by faulty main gear
box and low pressure turbine.
“Pratt-powered
A320 Neos are being flown globally and not just in India. They have so far not
been en masse grounded by US, European or any other aviation regulator. It is a
fact 127 of the 436 PW-powered A320/21 Neos flying globally nearly one-third are
with IndiGo and GoAir and we will not hesitate to take the harshest step of
grounding them the moment it is felt that is needed to be done for safety
reasons,” the official added.
In
fact, in a statement issued Friday the DGCA said: “We are keeping a close watch
and shall act when warranted. We also submit that we are responsible and
accountable for our risk assessment and are open to all scrutiny and action.”
Comments
from IndiGo and PW have been sought on the issue and are awaited.
A
technical team from PW recently told DGCA it has found a software update and
other modifications for the resolving the technical issues being faced by the
engines currently. As reported by TOI on August 19, India told PW that from
September onwards its airlines will be allowed to accept deliveries of new
A320/21 Neos only with engines that have updated software and other
modifications. Similarly when PW engines on IndiGo and GoAir’s existing fleet of
Neos go for servicing, they will be allowed to be fitted back on wings only if
they get these updated. And finally, GoAir and IndiGo will not lease old
A320/21 Neos that don’t have modified PW engines.
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