DGCA carries out evaluation of IndiGo planes after technical snag
The decision came after two aircraft developed technical issues mid-air in a single day leading to their grounding by the airline.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in close coordination with IndiGo is carrying out the “technical evaluation” of the engine issues faced by the airline’s two aircraft on Tuesday (August 30), according to an official.
Two flights of IndiGo, one from Kolkata to Bengaluru and another from Madurai to Mumbai, suffered engine issues on Tuesday (August 29).
In a statement, IndiGo said its flight 6E 455 from Kolkata to Bengaluru returned to Kolkata after takeoff due to a technical issue. The pilot followed standard operating procedures and landed back in Kolkata.
The flight 6E-2012 operating from Madurai to Mumbai had a technical issue prior to landing in Mumbai and the pilot prioritised the landing in Mumbai, the airline said in a separate statement. The aircraft is held at Mumbai and will be back in operation after necessary maintenance, it added.
The DGCA is doing the technical evaluation of both the incidents “in close coordination with the operator”, the senior official at the regulator said on Wednesday.
IndiGo's fleet is powered by Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines and a number of aircraft are on the ground.
On August 2, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers had said the number of aircraft impacted by the supply-chain challenge issues was in the high thirties. “I would actually label it now around 40,” he said.
Elbers, on August 24, told shareholders that the airline is taking a whole range of mitigating measures to deal with the situation arising out of grounded aircraft.
“We are dealing with some AOG (aircraft on ground) situation... AOG is being dealt with a whole range of mitigating measures. These measures were announced at the end of last year and have been effective in order to make sure that we deliver our capacity guidance that we provided to the market and shareholders earlier,” the IndiGo CEO had said.
At the end of June, IndiGo had a fleet of 316 planes, including 166 A320neos, 87 A321neos and two planes on wet lease.
(With agency inputs)
