In September, Wadia Group’s airline GoAir faced a mid-flight shutdown of one of its Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines, which forced pilots to land the Airbus A320neo on a single-engine, said two people aware of the matter.
“GoAir’s Airbus A320 Neo aircraft (registration VT-WGK) reported a commanded inflight shutdown of one of its engines while operating between Hyderabad and Ahmedabad on the night of 19 September,” said one of the people asked to be unknown.
The mid-flight shutdown of one of its P&W engine occurred on G8-710, the no-frills carrier from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad on 19 September. The issue wasn’t of Low-Pressure Turbine or a vibration-related snag which caused several groundings in the last few years before the regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had ordered the engine maker for replacing older engines with the modified ones.
Both the engines of the aircraft have been modified by the company and the DGCA is looking for the faults in the heat-management and oil systems of the engine that caused it to shut down, the person added.
A GoAir spokesperson didn’t respond for a comment and a P&W India spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. However, as per the DGCA’s order, the modification has only been carried out in 30 of the 46 P&W engine-powered A320neo aircraft which is operated by GoAir as of 15 September. In India, only IndiGo and GoAir operate P&W powered Airbus A320neo planes.