Aviation Ministry summons Pratt &Whitney engine makers for review

New Delhi (India), Jan 7 (ANI): In the backdrop of reports regarding the recurring glitches in the engines of Airbus 320 (NEO) aircraft, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday has called the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines makers for review.

Sources in the Aviation Ministry said the meeting was called for a review on a continuous report of engine error in Airbus 320 (Neo) P&W fitted engines.

Recently ANI reported that an IndiGo flight 6E 923 (Neo) operating on Chennai-Kolkata route on January 3 had to return to Chennai shortly after the takeoff due to some technical snag noted by the crew. The crew followed the normal operating procedures and asked for a priority landing.

Go Air and Indigo airlines are currently using Airbus 320 (Neo) P&W fitted engines and it learnt that (Neo) P&W engines are repeatedly developing snags.

Ministry sources said, "(Neo) Pratt and Whitney engines are reporting a lot of defects and it would be best that the airlines defer the deliveries of these aircraft. These possible situations and possible solutions will be discussed in the meeting on Tuesday. Any final decision will only be taken post the deliberations and in consultation with stakeholders."

Last year on December 10, an IndiGo flight made an emergency landing in Kolkata after smoke was detected in its cabin. On December 23 last year, IndiGo A320neo flight from Port Blair to Kolkata reportedly suffered mid-air engine snag. Last year, 11 Airbus 320 (Neo) PW fitted planes were grounded by IndiGo and GoAir.