Congress Rajya Sabha member Partap Singh Bajwa has written to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to take proactive steps in ensuring that domestic airlines flying Airbus A320-Neo aircraft modify their faulty engines immediately.
Mr. Bajwa said the approach of the safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is half baked.
“The DGCA is already aware of the reliability issues with the Pratt and Whitney engines in these aircraft. I am astounded that the solution was to have one modified engine installed to ensure that the plane can land if the other the engine develops a technical issue,” he said.
The MP said instead of sticking to its deadline of January 31 for airlines to modify engines, the DGCA extended the deadline by another five months.
“They have allowed this despite the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) putting out a stern warning in December 2019 that using these aircraft with one modified engines is based on the belief that it would never fail and both engines would not stall at the same time. This half-baked approach to safety puts lives at risk,” Mr. Bajwa said.
“The IndiGo, for example, has 106 of these aircraft operating at the moment and the GoAir 41. Reports suggest that IndiGo still has to install these new engines in about 70 of their aircraft....” he said.
