Engine snag: HC refuses to ground full Indigo fleet

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday said it would not issue orders to ground the entire fleet of Indigo’s A320neo aircraft, in response to a plea alleging that the planes are “flying coffins” due to their defective engines.

A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar, however, agreed to hear the other prayers of the plea which sought publication the details of incidents of engine failure and accidents caused by these on the website of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) within 24 hours of their occurrence.

The plea was filed by advocate Yeshwant Shenoy, who alleged that DGCA has been turning a blind eye on the defects in the engines of Airbus 320neos. It alleged that there have been 69 engine failures in these aircraft in 18 months from March 2016 to September 2017, threatening the lives of many. The petition also sought a direction to DGCA to publish on its website within three months all safety audit reports pertaining to airline operators from 2000 till date.

On March 12, DGCA ordered Indigo and Goair to immediately ground 11 A320neo planes powered with a certain series of Pratt & Whitney engineers after three incidents of mid-air engine failures in less than a month.

The Bombay High Court on Friday said DGCA should also examine the safety and airworthiness of the pre-450 series Neo P&W 1100 engines as well.

“When you have grounded aircraft with post-450 series engines, the question arises: is the pre-450 series safe,” said the division bench of justice Naresh Patil and justice Girish Kulkarni. Besides, the judges said the post-450 series was nothing but a modified version of the pre-450 series and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has not certified the latter to be safe.

“You must assure the people at large that these pre-450 series engines are safe and airworthy in Indian weather conditions and with the infrastructure available in India,” the judges told advocate Advait Sethna, who represented the DGCA. Sethna, however, maintained that the civil aviation regulator had not found any problem with the series. “There is no problem with the pre-450 series,” Sethna told the bench.

“...We are actively engaged with our engine and aircraft manufacturers in finding a long term solution ... between 96% to 98% of our flights are operating as usual,” said an Indigo spokesperson.