Investigators have disclosed that a new Air Baltic Airbus A220-300 which diverted to Bordeaux on 12 February had suffered an engine failure.
While the details of the failure, in the left-hand Pratt & Whitney PW1500G powerplant, have yet to be disclosed, the incident follows a series of engine failures on the type involving Swiss aircraft.
The Air Baltic twinjet involved, YL-AAU, had only been delivered to the airline in early December – the aircraft was the 100th of the type to be produced and carried ceremonial markings.
French investigation authority BEA says the jet had been operating a service from Riga to Malaga when it diverted.
The aircraft had been close to entering Spanish airspace at the time of the incident, and landed at Bordeaux around 10:30.
Investigators probing three previous occurrences of low-pressure compressor rotor failure to Swiss A220s had cautioned operators to limit engine power at cruise altitudes.
Inspection regimes have also focused on engines which have accumulated relatively few cycles since installation of a particular engine-control software version.
