11 aircraft grounded after Indigo flight’s mid-air engine failure

Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu is wasting no time in his new ministry. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation grounded 11 planes belonging to two low-cost carriers, after the engine of an IndiGo aircraft failed mid-air.

The grounded planes, including the one that had a mid-air failure, all have Neo engines. DGCA figures show that there have been 69 Neo engine failures as of September 15. This number crossed well over 100 on Monday.

The tipping point came when an Ahmedabad-Lucknow flight failed mid-air on Monday and made an emergency landing in Gujarat.

A full emergency was declared at the airport, and operations were halted. As many as seven departures were delayed. The grounded aircraft include 8 IndiGo and 3 GoAir planes.

IndiGo released a statement on the DGCA's decision saying, "We are in receipt of the communication from the DGCA and we shall promptly comply with the directions of the DGCA. Upon implementation of the directive, IndiGo shall have a total of nine A320neo aircraft on ground. The affected passengers would be accommodated on other flights on our network. Safety is our top priority." GoAir spokesperson released a statement saying, "GoAir has received the directive from the DGCA for immediate grounding of all late serial number PW GTF engines. We have complied immediately. GoAir is committed to the highest standards of safety and compliance and we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our valued customers. We are altering flight schedules and communicating the same to those affected by the last-minute changes; we are making all possible arrangements to minimise the impact."