Aviation regulator DGCA has asked GoAir to replace engines of 13 Airbus A320neo aircraft within 15 days to fix issues in low-pressure turbines. The regulator will ground these planes if the airline fails to comply with the instruction.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had issued a similar order on Monday to IndiGo where it asked the airline to replace engines of a sub-category of Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neo aircraft within 15 days. The affected aircraft are those with Pratt & Whitney 1100 series engine with over 3,000 hours of engine life and IndiGo has 16 such planes.

These aircraft have shown a tendency to display issues of vibration and "mid-air turn back."

"We did an assessment of safety and maintenance data of IndiGo after we observed three consecutive incidents of engine shutdown on Oct 24, 25 and 26 in Pratt & Whitney powered A320neo planes. The issues in LPT result in vibration, then breakage of LPT blades and then the aircraft has to return back. Hence, after evaluation, it was deemed necessary to issue this advisory as a precaution," a senior government official said. Fix issues in Low-pressure turbine

While these shut down were commanded, due to the fact that they occurred on consecutive days, i.e. October 24 to 26, a DGCA team visited IndiGo premises on October 28 to review the maintenance and safety data, the official added.

A meeting was also held on the matter under the chairmanship of Mr. Arun Kumar, Director General, Civil Aviation. Senior executives from IndiGo including Chief Operating Officer Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, heads of safety and maintenance were also present.

The regulator also conducted day-long checks and deliberations and concluded that the neo aircraft with unmodified LPT (low-pressure turbine) engines, and those which have done more than 2900 hours, have to be fitted with one modified LPT engine in next fifteen days.

"Subsequent to the discussions, IndiGo has been instructed to ensure that no such Neo aircraft should be operated which has two Pratt and Whitney 1100 series engines of more than 3000 hours engine life each. IndiGo has been given a fortnight to comply with the instructions," the official said.

The regulator has warned that it will ground all such affected aircraft if the airlines fail to comply with the deadline for replacement.

First Published:Oct 29, 2019 4:51 PM IST