Aviation safety regulator DGCA has asked IndiGo and Go Air to comply with a new advisory on the snag-prone Pratt and Whitney engines of A320 Neo aircraft which requires replacement of a certain part.
The latest advisory issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the U.S. on November 7 requires replacement of High Pressure Compressor (HPC) front hubs within four months.
“We have declared the Airworthiness Directive as mandatory and directed the Indian operators to comply within the period as indicated,” the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement.
A source said that the issues pertaining to the HPC front hubs are not new and have been previously reported.
As many as 13 engines belonging to IndiGo and two of GoAir are affected by the problem specified in the FAA’s latest advisory, the DGCA said, adding that the Indian operators have sufficient time to implement it.
The directive requires airlines to replace the HPC front hubs within 120 days or before exceeding 6,180 cycles since their use or within five years since the ship date, whichever occurs first.
A separate advisory issued by the American aviation body requires airlines to replace another engine part to address failure of knife edge seal issue. The DGCA said that both IndiGo and GoAir have complied with this.
A source said that some A320 Neos in the country are currently grounded because of technical problems. The P&W engines that power these planes have been facing a host of problems, including with the combustion chamber, knife edge seal and bearing distress.
India is an important market for both Airbus and Pratt and Whitney, with market leader IndiGo having ordered 430 and GoAir ordering 144 A320 Neos. IndiGo has so far taken the delivery of 54 of these planes, while GoAir has inducted 23 A320 Neos.
“The recent airworthiness directives will not cause any operational disruption for the operators. The engine parts will be replaced during planned future shop visit and is therefore predictable for operators,” P&W said in a statement.
