American aerospace company Pratt & Whitney says it has found a solution to the engine problems that led to 11 planes belonging to Indian budget airlines IndiGo and GoAir being grounded.
Pratt & Whitney make the engines for the Airbus A320neo aircraft used by the budget airlines, which were grounded after a mid-air engine failure.
Airbus claimed “corrective action” to fix the problems had been approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and that Pratt & Whitney had started to deliver engines with an advanced configuration, according to a report in the Times of India.
Airbus stopped delivering A320neo aircraft with Pratt & Whitney engines until the problems were rectified, the daily added. The move to stop deliveries was expected to affect the expansion plans of IndiGo and GoAir, as both airlines had made large orders for the planes.
The problems started on March 12 when an IndiGo flight from Ahmedabad to Lucknow had a mid-air engine failure and the aircraft was forced to return to Ahmedabad 40 minutes into the flight.
The aviation regulatory body the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded eight of IndiGo’s planes and three from GoAir.