Flight makes emergency landing in Ahmedabad: Pratt & Whitney engine again under the scanner

A sharp rise in the cases of engine failure in aircrafts has raised serious questions about the aviation safety in India.

A Lucknow bound IndiGo flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Ahmedabad on Monday due to mid-air engine failure. The pilot of the Airbus A320 Neo plane, which took off from Ahmedabad around 9.00 am, requested for returning the flight after the failure of the second engine, said reports. The IndiGo airlines plane, which had 186 passengers onboard, was powered by Pratt & Whitney Neo engines. The pilot noticed the problem in the engine after being airborne for over 40 minutes.

"At around 9.38 am...the pilot of the aircraft reported failure of the second engine and requested for returning the flight to the Ahmedabad airport," a PTI report quoted Ahmedabad airport director Manoj Gangal as saying.

A sharp rise in the cases of engine failure in aircraft has raised serious questions about the aviation safety in India. According to the civil aviation regulator's data till August 2017, as many as 15 passenger aircrafts suffered midflight engine damage. Although the probe is on to find out the reasons for such failures, the data is worrying as the numbers are the highest for six years. The engine manufacturers have been approached and engines which encountered problems were sent for strip examination to pinpoint the cause, said a report published in October last year.

The six-year data obtained through the right to information law show only seven aircraft reported engine snags during flights in 2016. Of the 15 cases so far in 2017, seven engines were manufactured by CFM International while half a dozen was made by Pratt & Whitney.

According to reports, Pratt & Whitney had then acknowledged that there were some issues with the engine but maintained that none were serious.

OneIndia News