Grounding of 9 A320 neos: DGCA concerned over P&W engine woes

The DGCA today reviewed the progress made by Pratt & Whitney in fixing the engine issues faced by A320 neo planes operated by IndiGo and GoAir and also expressed concern over grounding of nine such aircraft, a senior official said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) held a meeting with representatives from US engine maker Pratt & Whitney (P&W), aircraft major Airbus as well as from IndiGo and GoAir.
During the meeting, the progress made by P&W to fix the issues of No 3 bearing failure and combustion chamber failure on PW1100 engine leading to grounding of nine A320 neo planes was discussed, a senior DGCA official said.

As many as seven A320 neos of IndiGo and two of GoAir have been grounded due to engine problems.
The regulator also expressed concern over "grounding of large number of A320 neos thereby affecting the flight schedules of IndiGo and GoAir," the official said.
According to him, P&W informed that modification done on No 3 bearing from April onwards has addressed the problem of bearing failure to some extent while the new set of improved combustion chambers would be available post October.

Further, the official said P&W has assured that by September 2017, they would ensure that there is no grounding of aircraft.

Shop level delivery of engines undergoing modification is being increased to cut down the time for supply of engines, he said.
The watchdog has also sought data from P&W and Airbus.
Queries sent to P&W, Airbus, IndiGo and GoAir did not elicit any immediate response.
In March, the DGCA had asked the leading engine maker to fix the issues related to its engines powering A320 neo planes flown by the Indian carriers within a specified time.
Back in February, the regulator had also directed IndiGo and GoAir to conduct inspections of the P&W engines once they complete 1,000 hours of flying, instead of 1,500 hours as recommended by the engine maker.

Further, the DGCA had sought repeat inspections every 500 hours thereafter. These directions had come after multiple incidents involving A320 neo planes, including emergency landings, due to problems with P&W engines.