Dangerous Flying!

Pratt & Whitney may have found a solution to the unending woes for its engines powering the A320 new engine option (neo) aircraft, however, the fact remains that the grounding of the planes and Airbus' decision to stop delivery of planes with PW engines has dealt a severe blow to IndiGo and GoAir's growth plans. IndiGo is one the biggest buyers of the aircraft, with more than 350 aircraft yet to be delivered, while GoAir is the next in line with orders for 131 neos

On Valentine’s Day in 1990, a brand new Airbus A320 from the then Indian Airlines crashed at the Bangalore Golf Course close to 2500 yards from the city’s HAL Airport. The Aircraft was new with a technology called fly by fire and India was one of the launch customers. The V P Singh Government that had just taken office months earlier decided that the safest option was to ground the entire A320 fleet. There was no considered decision making, there was no consultation with the experts, no looking at FAA or EASA pronouncements, it was a simple knee jerk reaction that was the beginning of the end of Indian Airlines. It never recovered from that body blow, the losses (a first for the airline) piled up and finally it was merged with Air India that is now on the verge of being sold.

When the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) cracked the whip after an IndiGo flight bound for Lucknow returned to Ahmedabad within 40 minutes of take-off due to a mid-air engine failure, it reminded one the Bengaluru episode. Citing safety of aircraft operations, A320neos fitted with PW1100 engines beyond ESN (Engine Serial No) 450 have been grounded with immediate effect. “Both IndiGo and GoAir have been told not to refit these engines, which are spare with them in their inventory," the agency said in a release. The decision grounded 11 A320neo aircraft. Of these, eight are operated by IndiGo and three by GoAir.

What happened with IndiGo was not exclusive to the airline. There had been a series of similar instances in the months leading to the Indigo flameout on the Ahmedabad-Lucknow flight in different parts of the world where the aircrafts were forced to make emergency landings.