An in-flight shutdown of a GoAir operated Airbus A320neo on 8 February 2017 has been traced back to the improper assembly of a component in one of its Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines.
The incident occurred on an aircraft registered VT-WGB, as it was taking off 19:31 local time on a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru, the Director General of Civil Aviation’s final report states.
During the take-off, the aircraft’s master warning sounded, along with and the electronic centralised aircraft monitor displayed a low oil pressure message, followed soon after by a notification that the left-hand engine had failed.
Soon after, the crew initiated a "pan" call and the aircraft returned Delhi. There were no reports of injuries among the 187 passengers and six crew onboard.
During inspection, an oil leak was observed from the exhaust of the affected engine, with oil splashes found around the area. Metal chips were also found in main gear box chip detector.
In its investigation, the DGCA found that the aircraft had been dispatched with an "oil chip detected" alert in the left-hand engine. In accordance with Airbus procedures, an engineering approval allowed the aircraft to be flown for 10 flight hours for the total engine run time.
During a teardown inspection of the failed engine, it was found that the permanent magnetic alternator (PMA) rotor was "installed out-of-position axially and circumferentially" on the PMA gear shaft. This generated foreign object debris over time and resulted in the chip warning and the subsequent engine shutdown.
DGCA says it may take up the matter with P&W regarding the error during assembly stage of the engine.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that the aircraft was built in 2016. It is owned by SMBC Aviation Capital.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
