Airbus engine maker clears safety doubt

NEW DELHI: American manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has said that its engines on Airbus 320 neos (new engine options) operated by IndiGo and GoAir face some technical issues that it will resolve by September this year.
The Airbus 320 neos operated by these two low-cost carriers are powered by Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofans engines, which have become a concern for the regulator in India owing to recurrent problems.

“Let me clarify first that there are no safety issues with our engine and all of our engines have been through a rigorous testing process and have been certified for safe operation by numerous government regulatory agencies around the world.

The single most important point is that fleet airworthiness is not in question,” Palas Roy Chowdhury, Pratt & Whitney’s managing director-India told ET. “The problems that we have noticed in these engines are technical issues relating to combustor lining and number three seal. We will be able to resolve both these issues.”

He said that the combustor liner issue was identified during the middle of last year and modified late last year, and that further rectification will happen by the third quarter of 2017.

“Solution of a seal issue has also been identified and we will fix that too around the same time.

We are implementing the fixes by the third quarter of 2017,” he said.

One of IndiGo’s new aircraft engines reportedly caught fire after it took off from Mumbai airport in January.