The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) barred Indigo and GoAir from flying to Port Blair with Airbus 320 Neo fitted with Pratt and Whitney (PW) engines. The restriction has been taken after considering safety norms.
“The restriction imposed on flight operations to Port Blair with A320 neo aircraft,” DGCA notice stated.
The regulator has barred the airlines from operating the planes to Port Blair since the nearest landing place in case of any emergency is more than one hour away, according to an official.
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India’s regulatory body DGCA further stated: “A meeting was held in the Ministry of Civil Aviation on January 8 under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha where the performance of Airbus eight 320 aircraft fitted with P&W 1100 series was reviewed. After this, we decided to create awareness among cabin and cockpit crew about odour, burning smell and smoke. Necessary action would be taken if any odour or smoke is observed in the air-conditioning pack in the flight and cockpit crew need to identify the source of odour by isolating packs one at a time.”
A high-level meeting was also held with all the stakeholders i.e. Airbus, Indigo, GoAir and operators on the issue of Airbus 320 (Neo) P&W engine issue.
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On December 10 last year, an IndiGo flight made an emergency landing in Kolkata after smoke was detected in its cabin.
IndiGo A320neo flight from Port Blair to Kolkata reportedly suffered mid-air engine snag on December 23, last year. Also, 11 Airbus 320 (Neo) P&W fitted planes were grounded by IndiGo and GoAir.
(with ANI Inputs)
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