IndiGo grounds A320neo aircraft for Pratt & Whitney engine trouble

IndiGo grounded an A320neo aircraft after its Pratt & Whitney engine shut down midair on December 23, a source said Thursday.

The Kolkata-bound plane returned to Port Blair and made an emergency landing after the pilot reported an engine had failed, said the source. It was the fourth since December 10 when an IndiGo plane faced a technical glitch mid-air

"On December 23, an IndiGo A320 aircraft (VT-ITE) operating flight 6E-6616 from Port Blair to Kolkata returned to Port Blair. During the flight, the pilot observed low engine no 2 oil pressure. The pilot followed his procedures and landed back to Port Blair," said an IndiGo spokesperson. The aircraft was withdrawn from service for checks at Port Blair.

IndiGo did not respond to a question on whether it was considering stopping deliveries of the A320neos till the engine issues are fixed.

It also did not reveal how many of its A320 neo's were out of operations due to the engine issues. P&W did not respond to similar queries.

Significantly, both the aircraft maker and the engine maker have been monetarily compensating the two domestic carriers -- IndiGo and GoAir -- for each grounded plane.

IndiGo and GoAir operate P&W engine-powered A320 planes.

Both airlines have been facing problems with P&W engines powering their A320 family planes and there have been many instances of mid-air engine shutdowns.

On December 10, IndiGo's A320 neo plane made an emergency landing in Kolkata after smoke filled the plane's cabin. It was also the first incident globally where smoke was detected from a P&W engine.

Later on December 21, one of the engines of an IndiGo aircraft, flying from Udaipur to Hyderabad, suffered mid-air shutdown.

The next day, the airline's Hyderabad-bound plane from Mangalore had to reject take off at the last minute after severe damage warning in the engine.