Motorproblemene fortsetter - P&W får ikke orden på det - Curt Lewis

Mid-air scares: What are A320neo aircraft and what's wrong with them

In India, budget carriers IndiGo and GoAir use the Pratt & Whitney engines to power their A320neo aircraft.


On January 3, an IndiGo Airbus A320neo plane suffered a mid-air engine failure with a "loud bang". (Photo: Reuters/representational)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Pratt & Whitney engine-powered A320neo aircraft have been riddled with mid-air snags
• In India, budget carriers IndiGo and GoAir use the P&W engines to power their A320neo aircraft.
• The Centre has now decided to meet various stakeholders on Tuesday to review the recurring problems

With rising glitches in Pratt & Whitney engine-powered A320neo planes, the central government has decided to meet various stakeholders on Tuesday to review the recurring problems. In India, budget carriers IndiGo and GoAir use the P&W engines to power their A320neo aircraft.

The Centre's decision comes after IndiGo's Kolkata-bound flight had to return to Chennai on January 3, following a mid-air engine failure. It was reported that a "loud bang" was heard followed by smoke and heavy vibrations, according to sources.

IndiGo, however, said in a statement that the "crew followed the normal operating procedures and asked for a priority landing. There was no engine shutdown and no emergency landing was declared".

Recurring glitches

This was the third such incident in one month involving an IndiGo plane.

On December 10 last year, an IndiGo flight made emergency landing in Kolkata after its cabin was filled with smoke.

On December 23, IndiGo A320neo flight from Port Blair to Kolkata reportedly suffered mid-air engine failure.

Last year in March, as many as 11 such planes were grounded by IndiGo and GoAir following incidents of mid-air aircraft engine failure.

Although it's not known how many of IndiGo's A320neos were out of operations due to engine issues, both the aircraft-maker and the engine-maker have been monetarily compensating the two domestic carriers -- IndiGo and GoAir -- for each grounded plane.

Most-advanced and fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft?

A320neos is manufactured by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and powered by American aerospace manufacturer Pratt and Whitney's (PW) turbofan engines.

According to airbus.com, the A320neo (new engine option) is one of many upgrades introduced by Airbus to help maintain its A320 product line's position as the world's most advanced and fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft family.

The baseline A320neo has a choice of two new-generation engines (the PurePower PW1100G-JM from Pratt and Whitney and the LEAP-1A from CFM International) and features large, fuel-saving wingtip devices known as Sharklets.

Air India and Vistara have CFM engines in their A320 neo planes.

The A320neo consumes between 15 per cent and 20 per cent less fuel than its predecessor, the A320ceo. The A320neo was touted as Airbus's answer to its American rival, Boeing.

Tale of caution

On February 9 last year, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had issued an emergency airworthiness directive for A320neo planes having a particular serial number. The directive followed instances of the engines shut-down during flights and rejected take-offs involving the A320 neo family aircraft.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on February 13 last year, said it was monitoring engine glitches to ensure that safety is not compromised at any time.

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 March, the DGCA grounded 11 A320neo aircraft following engine failures during flights. Of these, eight were operated by IndiGo and three by GoAir.

The DGCA order had come after an A320 neo aircraft of IndiGo suffered engine failure mid-air and made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport.

In 2017, the DGCA had ordered detailed inspection of 21 A320neo planes of IndiGo and GoAir equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines following frequent technical glitches.

Between May 2016 and November 2017, IndiGo, India's largest airline, has had to replace Pratt & Whitney engines on its 32 A320neo aircraft at least 69 times.

During that time, IndiGo said these issues were related to non-detection of chip, carbon seal lining or combustor chamber lining in Pratt & Whitney 1100 series engines. The airline called these engine 'glitches' and 'non-safety' issues.

As per practice, the defective engines were reportedly replaced with other engines. The planes continued to operate with the replaced engines. It is believed domestic passengers had been flying unaware of the danger until the DGCA order came.

Early signs of problem

In all, Indigo, had ordered 530 units of A320neos with P&W engines since 2011. The first aircraft was delivered in 2016.

Airbus delayed the first batch of deliveries to IndiGo by nearly four months reportedly following cooling issues with the P&W engines. Twenty six planes were finally delivered to IndiGo in March 2016.

However, the engines continued to face issues.