Air safety watchdog extends deadline for IndiGo to replace Pratt & Whitney engines
Air safety watchdog extends deadline for IndiGo to replace Pratt & Whitney engines
By Aditi Shah
NEW DELHI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - India's aviation regulator has given IndiGo more time to replace the Pratt & Whitney engines on its fleet of Airbus A320neo planes which have been linked to in-flight engine shutdowns, a statement released by the watchdog said on Monday.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in November said IndiGo, the country's largest airline, must replace the engines by January 31, after four incidents of in-flight engine shutdowns within a week caused "serious concern".
The DGCA has now given IndiGo until May 31, saying that while the regulator was obliged to set up a tight deadline it was also intended to "spur frenetic action on the part of all stakeholders".
"The airline and the aircraft and the engine manufacturer have made significant efforts towards completion of the task," it said in the statement, adding that they had submitted a detailed plan to the regulator for procuring the 135 replacement engines still required.
IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation and the biggest customer of Airbus' A320neo jets with more than 400 planes on order, did not respond to a request for comment.
Airbus and Pratt & Whitney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
United Technologies' current Pratt & Whitney engine models entered in service in 2016, but issues with the units have forced IndiGo to ground planes several times.
IndiGo will replace at least one Pratt & Whitney engine on each affected plane with a modified one before March 31, the DGCA said, adding that 70% of the replacements were expected to be completed by Jan 31.
IndiGo, Pratt & Whitney and Airbus have also submitted a plan to ensure that the second engine on each plane is replaced with a modified one by June 2020, but the DGCA has insisted on the May deadline.
That is ahead of the Dec 31 deadline set by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for airlines to complete the replacement of engines linked to the shutdowns.
"The DGCA believes that the unmodified engines do contain an unsafe condition, which is prone to undesirable outcomes and therefore, need to be dispensed with," it said, adding that no aircraft fitted with the unmodified engines will be allowed to fly after May.
The watchdog has also allowed IndiGo to add new planes to its fleet, reversing an earlier directive where the airline was asked to first replace engines on existing aircraft before adding new ones.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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阿迪提·沙阿(Aditi Shah)著新德里，1月13日(路透社)-印度航空監管機構週一發佈的一份聲明稱，印度航空監管機構已經給IndiGo更多的時間來更換其空客A320neo飛機機隊上的普拉特-惠特尼發動機，這些發動機與飛行中的發動機關閉有關。去年11月，印度民航總局(DGCA)表示，該國最大的航空公司IndiGo必須在1月31日之前更換髮動機，此前一週內發生的四起飛行中發動機關閉事件引起了“嚴重關切”。DGCA現在給IndiGo設定了5月31日之前的期限，稱儘管監管機構有義務設定一個嚴格的最後期限，但也是為了“刺激所有利益相關者的瘋狂行動”。“航空公司、飛機和發動機製造商為完成任務做出了重大努力，”該公司在聲明中表示，並補充稱，他們已向監管機構提交了一份詳細計劃，以採購仍需更換的135台發動機。Indigo由InterGlobe Aviation所有，是空客A320neo噴氣式飛機的最大客户，訂購了400多架飛機。Indigo沒有回覆記者的置評請求。空客和普惠沒有立即回覆記者的置評請求。聯合技術公司(United Technologies)目前的普惠(Pratt&Whitney)發動機型號於2016年投入使用，但這些部件的問題已迫使IndiGo多次停飛機。DGCA表示，Indigo將在3月31日之前將每架受影響飛機上的至少一個普惠發動機更換為改裝後的發動機，並補充説，70%的更換預計將在1月31日前完成。Indigo、普惠(Pratt&Whitney)和空客(Airbus)也提交了一份計劃，以確保在2020年6月之前將每架飛機的第二個發動機更換為改裝的發動機，但DGCA堅持5月份的最後期限。這一數字早於美國聯邦航空管理局(FAA)設定的12月31日最後期限，要求航空公司完成與關閉相關的發動機更換工作。DGCA表示：“DGCA認為，未改裝的發動機確實存在不安全狀況，容易出現不良結果，因此需要免除。”並補充説，5月以後，任何安裝了未改裝發動機的飛機都將被允許飛行。該監管機構還允許IndiGo向其機隊增加新飛機，扭轉了早先要求該航空公司在增加新飛機之前先更換現有飛機發動機的指令。(Aditi Shah報道；Kirsten Donovan編輯)(aditi.shah@tr.com；+91-11-4954 8023，+91-11-3015 8023；路透社消息：aditi.shah.thomsonreurs.com@reurs.net；推特：@aditishahsay)
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。
