Aircraft engines

Half a dozen were made by Pratt & Whitney, the American company facing global scrutiny over technical snags in its engines that power the Airbus A320neo aircraft.

But the DGCA data show only three Airbus A320neo aircraft developed snags during take-off.

“The engines did cause trouble but most cases were detected during inspection. Hence, only three snags were entered in the data,” the DGCA official said.

Experts from Pratt & Whitney assured that the engine had issues but none were serious.

A couple of them were Indiaspecific, as pollutants in the air clog the combustor and affect engine lubrication, according to a company official who didn’t wish to be named. “We have successfully rectified them and as of today only three A320neo aircraft are grounded.”

That’s a sign of improvement as private airliner Indigo, which flies four in every 10 Indian air passengers, was forced to cancel more than 600 flights this summer because of vexing technical snags with the Pratt & Whitney engines. This was reported in Hindustan Times in August.

Aviation safety experts expressed concern over the rise in engine failures.

“The DGCA should put such information on its website. Since it investigated these cases, it should maintain transparency,” said SS Panesar, a senior pilot.

However, investigation is a matter of contest between the DGCA and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

Official documents suggest the bureau called the engine fires “serious” and sought to investigate, but the civil aviation ministry handed the cases to the DGCA.

Civil aviation director general BS Bhullar wasn’t available for comments but a senior official assured that the regulator is “seriously looking into all the aspects of air safety”.