Faulty PW engines caused collapse of Kingfisher Airlines: Mallya

Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya has blamed Pratt & Whitney (PW) faulty engines as the reason behind the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya's assertion comes days after India's civil aviation regulator said that it is investigating IndiGo and GoAir's Airbus A320 new engine option (neo) aircraft which are powered by PW engines.

"Not surprised at DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) enquiry into Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines. Kingfisher Airlines sadly collapsed also due to faulty engines," Mallya tweeted.

"We have sued IAE a Pratt & Whitney Group Company for compensation towards defective aircraft engines supplied to Kingfisher Airlines."

On Tuesday, DGCA said that it is investigating IndiGo and GoAir's Airbus A320neo aircraft which are powered by PW engines.

Recently, both the airlines have faced engine problems with their A320neo aircraft which are powered by PW PurePower Geared Turbofan.

That time DGCA said that it has asked the two airlines to carry out one time boroscopic inspection of all the engines which have completed 1,000 hours instead of 1,500 hours and repeat inspection at every 500 hours.

DGCA has further ordered that if boroscopic inspection is unsatisfactory, engine operations should be as per the manufacturer's recommendation.

The boroscopic inspections are used for visual inspection work where the area to be inspected is inaccessible by other means.

PW is a United Technologies Corp. company which designs and manufactures aircraft engines and auxiliary power units.

Both the airlines have 21 A320neo aircraft which are powered by the PW engines, out of which 16 belong to IndiGo, while the rest are with GoAir.

On its part, PW has said that it is supporting GoAir and IndiGo to assess the situation and minimise any disruption.

--IANS

rv/bg