Air India & IndiGo Flights Develop Engine Snags, Return Safely

New Delhi: Two aircraft, one each of IndiGo and Air India, returned safely minutes after take-off to the origin airport due to engine snags on Friday. While IndiGo’s was a domestic Patna-Delhi flight, the Al aircraft was headed from Mumbai to London.

IndiGo’s Airbus A320 landed back in Patna after one of its CFM LEAP engines reportedly had an inflight shutdown. The aircraft had about 190 people on board, the Times of India reported. IndiGo said in a statement: “Flight 6E-2433 operating from Patna to Delhi returned to origin due to a technical issue. Standard operating procedures were followed to prioritise the landing and the aircraft landed safely at Patna. The aircraft is currently at Patna airport and undergoing inspection.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this case.

After facing troubles with Pratt & Whitney (PW) engines in the past few years, IndiGo had opted for CFM engines for its Airbus A320 family of planes. Almost 40 IndiGo aircraft have been grounded for months awaiting replacement engines from PW, which has been unable to do so at the required pace due to global supply chain issues, the report added.

Air India said in a statement: “Al-131, operating from Mumbai to London, air-returned and made a safe precautionary landing at Mumbai due to a suspected technical glitch. As Air India gives top priority to safety issues, the aircraft is undergoing thorough checks. Arrangements for flying the passengers to their destinations at the earliest are in process.”