IndiGo grounds A320 plane again after minor snag' in engine

Mumbai: Pratt and Whitney engine turbulence hit IndiGo again as a technical glitch in one of the engines of an Airbus A320 Neo plane forced the airline to ground the flight at the last moment, an industry source said.

IndiGo Airline confirmed the incident but said that the "minor snag" in the engine was not related to the on-going Neo (new engine option) engine issues and the aircraft was put back into operations the same day.

IndiGo's entire A320 Neo fleet is powered by Pratt & Whitney's PW1100G geared turbofan engines, which have faced recurring issues and subsequent grounding of the aircraft from time to time.

"The aircraft VT-ITW was grounded just prior to its departure for Mumbai from Chandigarh on Wednesday due to the engine problem. The A320 Neo plane was inducted in the fleet only in August last year and has not completed even one year into service," the source said.

The Gurugram-based airline currently has 36 A320 Neo planes in the fleet.

"An IndiGo flight 6E-264 operating Chandigarh-Mumbai route was grounded due to technical reasons on June 4. A minor snag was observed by the pilot during engine start," the airline said in a statement.

The defect was rectified and the aircraft was made serviceable the same day, it said adding that this was not related to the on-going Neo engine concerns.