DGCA says P&W engines issue to have minimal impact on Indigo

New Delhi Aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday said material anomalies detected in certain Pratt & Whitney engines will have a "minimal" impact on IndiGo fleet as only two operational engines of the airline will be required to be removed for inspection.

While a total of 15 engines powering IndiGo planes will be impacted, 13 of them are currently non-operational, according to a senior official at the Directorate General of of Civil Aviation (DGCA). IndiGo is the largest customer of the A320 planes and the aircraft are powered by P&W engines. Grounded carrier Go First's A320 neo fleet are also having P&W engines. Last month, US-based P&W said it has found that a rare condition in powdered metal used to manufacture certain engine parts may reduce the life of those parts. P&W had said the material anomalies would impact around 1,002 PW1100G engines worldwide. The engine maker has now issued the Service Instructions (SI) enlisting the serial numbers of the engine series which are required to be removed for performing Angle Ultrasonic Scan Inspection (AUSI) during the shop visit and accordingly are required to be removed before September 15, the official said. "The impact of this Service Instruction on the fleet of IndiGo, as ascertained from them, is minimal and only 2 engines which are currently operational in their fleet would be required to be removed out of a total of 13 affected engines (of which 11 are currently non-operational). "This implies that there would be little or no impact on the capacity of Indian carriers during the ensuing high season," the official said.