More P&W Engine Problems As India Grounds 11 A320neos

India’s civil aviation regulator has ordered 11 Airbus A320neos fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines to be grounded after an IndiGo aircraft suffered an engine failure on Monday.

The latest problem on a P&W powered A320neo happened early on Monday morning when a domestic flight from Ahmedabad to Lucknow suffered an engine failure and had to return to Ahmedabad. The aircraft landed safely on one engine with no injuries.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered the grounding of 11 A320neos, eight at IndiGo and three from GoAir. The regulator also asked the airlines not to refit the engines.

The directive, which only applies to part of the airlines’ A320neo fleet, became effective immediately and by Monday evening the aircraft had been taken out of service.

Indian carriers have had three mid-air engine failures in less than a month, and the latest directive takes the total number of P&W geared turbofan-powered A320neos grounded to 14.

Pratt & Whitney in a statement said corrective action has been approved and “we have already begun to deliver production engines with the upgraded configuration. We are working to mitigate the Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situation by the end of the second quarter.”

The latest groundings are expected to affect over 70 flights daily between IndiGo and GoAir.