MID-AIR TURBULENCE

AFTER REPORTED INSTANCES OF MID-AIR SHUT DOWNS, DOMESTIC AIRLINES HAD TO GROUND THEIR AIRBUS AIRCRAFT FLYING ON THE PRATT & WHITNEY (P&W) ENGINES. THE GROUNDING FOLLOWED AN ORDER FROM THE AVIATION REGULATOR DGCA. EUROPEAN AIRCRAFT-MAKER AIRBUS HAS ALSO PUT ALL FUTURE DELIVERIES OF THE A320NEO ON HOLD, DUE TO A SAFETY WARNING RAISED BY THE EUROPEAN AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR.

Z The A320neo which between consumes aircraft, 15% and 20% less fuel than its predecessor, the Airbus’s A320ceo, bet to was race ahead of Boeing, its American rival. The first flight of the A320neo took place on September 25, 2014. It was introduced by Lufthansa on January 25, 2016. India has about 40 percent of the Neos flying worldwide.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

A320neo planes have been riddled with glitches since 2016, when they were first inducted. Initially, the problems included slow engine startup times leading to delays and erroneous software messages to the pilots, but the situation has worsened since.

MID-AIR SHUTDOWNS

Feb. 24: A GoAir A-320 Neo aircraft suffered a shutdown of a PW-1100 engine after take-off from Leh

March 5: The same issued hit an IndiGo aircraft after takeoff from Mumbai

March 12: An IndiGo A-320 Neo aircraft suffered shutdown of an engine shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad

MAJOR ISSUES

Problems in the combustion chamber of the engine oil chip warning arising from the failure of a bearing number 3 in the engines

Jet had reported 6,535 snags in its Boeing fleet, 831 in its Airbus fleet and 1,333 in its ATRs. In the case of SpiceJet, 2,910 snags were reported with respect to the Boeing 737 and 1,993 related to the Bombardier Q400. As per DGCA data, Air India reported 337 snags in its Airbus fleet. The number was 48 in the case of its Boeing fleet