Bombay High Court asks DGCA to check safety of all A320neo engines

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ascertain the safety of all Pratt & Whitney engines powering Airbus A320neo planes.

The civil aviation regulator has been directed to submit its report in a week.

A division bench of Justices Naresh Patil and Girish Kulkarni passed the order in response to a public interest litigation filed by businessman Harish Agarwal.

The court observed in the interest of consumer safety the regulator must verify from European Aviation Safety Agency and independent aviation experts the air-worthiness of these engines.

The issue of faulty engines was red flagged by EASA in February which said engines manufactured from mid-2017 onwards were more susceptible to failure as there were incidents of in-flight engine shutdowns and aborted takeoffs. 

Going beyond European regulator's directive,  the DGCA earlier this week ordered grounding of fourteen A320neo planes which had Pratt & Whitney engines beyond serial number 450. 

The DGCA order came following three incidents of engine failure in a month. Planes with pre-450 engine serial numbers continue to operate as usual.

Advocate Aniruddha Deo who appeared for the petitioner said that the DGCA should make a submission that all Airbus A320neos flying in the country are airworthy and that their engines are free from defect. 

The court observed that travelling public should not have doubts in mind about the safety of engines and asked the DGCA to ascertain the safety of even pre-450 series engines. The court said the regulator should place its report in a week as there were flight cancellations and a possibility of fluctuation in fares.

Meanwhile in a statement, IndiGo said that between 96-98 per cent of its flights are operating as usual and it is cancelling less than 4 per cent of its flights each day.

"We are also actively engaged with our engine and aircraft manufacturers to find a long-term solution at the earliest. We would like to assure our passengers that the operations will be normalised soon," the airline said in a statement.