The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded two GoFirst aircraft on Tuesday after their engines malfunctioned during a flight.
“We are investigating the two incidents. Meanwhile, both these aircraft are being grounded and will be able to fly only after our clearance,” a DGCA official said on the condition of anonymity. He added that it will also consult OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) as part of its enquiry.
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GoFirst’s Mumbai-Leh flight took off at 3 a.m. on Tuesday; after flying more than half the distance towards its destination, it had to be diverted to Delhi, where it landed three hours later after a fault in the interface unit of one of its engines.
On the same day, GoFirst’s Srinagar-Mumbai flight departed at 8.30 a.m. but had to return to Srinagar airport shorty after when one of the engines saw exhaust gas temperature (EGT) overlimit.
The airline operates Airbus A320 aircraft. Some of its A320neos are also grounded over delay in delivery of upgraded Pratt and Whitney engines.
The DGCA’s decision comes at a time the Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has been holding one-on-one meetings with airlines over safety issues. The Minister met four airlines on Tuesday and three on Monday. During these meetings, he sought data on number of safety incidents from the airlines and gave strict instructions on following safety norms, according to a Ministry official.
On Sunday, Mr. Scindia also met with officials of the Ministry and DGCA, where he stressed on the need to step up safety oversight on airlines.
