Govt to take decision on P&W engine issue today: Choubey

The Civil Aviation Ministry will take a decision today on the safety aspects of certain Pratt & Whitney engines powering A320 neo planes, a senior official said today amid instances of problems with such engines during flight.

The possibility of aircraft having such engines being grounded till the issues are resolved has not been ruled out.

In the latest incident, an IndiGo flight operated with A320 neo aircraft today suffered engine failure and made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport.

"We will take an appropriate decision by evening today," Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said here.

Responding to queries related to P&W engine problems, he said the decision would basically be on safety aspects.

The aspects of "how to fly, when to fly, under what conditions to fly, not to fly", would be taken into consideration, he said.

When asked whether aircraft with such engines would be grounded, Choubey said, "I would not go into the details."

He added: "Aircraft with one engine of 450 series would be the subject matter of our decision."

On February 9, EASA had issued an emergency airworthiness directive for A320 neo planes fitted with PW1100 engines having a particular serial number.

The directive followed instances of the engines in-flight shut-downs and rejected take-offs involving A320 neo family aircraft.

On February 21, P&W said it has come out with a revised configuration to address the latest problem in some of its engines powering A320 neo planes.

In recent weeks, there have been instances of P&W A320 neo aircraft facing problems.