A petition filed before the Delhi High Court has sought the grounding of all faulty Airbus A320 Neo aircraft, used by IndiGo and GoAir, till their engines are repaired or replaced.
The petition, filed by a Chennai-based non-profit organisation, has alleged that neither the Ministry of Civil Aviation nor the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken any step to ground the aircraft. Instead, they have only issued notice, extending the deadline for repairs or engine modifications.
“It is submitted that the respondents 1 [the Ministry] and 2 [DGCA] have repeatedly extended the timelines for modified versions of the Pratt and Whitney engines to be installed, instead of grounding the entire fleet of A320 Neo aircraft,” the petition has said.
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It has also contended that despite several incidents of mid-air engine faults or problems, the DGCA has not grounded the aircraft.
The petition has also sought directions to the Ministry and the DGCA to frame regulations to prevent aircraft with faulty engines flying and to impose sanctions on erring airlines.