Mumbai: A Bengaluru-bound IndiGo Neo A320 aircraft flight from Mumbai returned within an hour of take-off after the pilot observed a caution message flash, mid-air. The airlines said in a statement, the pilot saw the caution message flash twice and alarmed, he rerouted the aircraft. The aircraft is currently under inspection at Mumbai.
The IndiGo 6E 236 flight from Mumbai to Bengaluru had departed at 9.38am on Thursday, but returned to base within an hour. An airlines official said, the Neo aircraft, which has twin engines, reportedly experienced two episodes of heavy vibration, once while climbing 4,000 feet and the next, at 10,000 feet. "Engine number two had high vibrations twice during the climb. The first heavy vibrations were felt at 4,000 feet and again at 10,000 feet for a massive 35 seconds. The pilot also observed a caution message, after which the standard operating procedures were followed and the aircraft returned to Mumbai as a precaution. Since twin engine planes can safely land on one engine, this aircraft did so at at 10.35am," the airlines said.
A Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said, requesting confidentiality, the engine that suffered high vibration on 6E-236 on Thursday is suspected to be among the unmodified ones that the DGCA has ordered replaced on all IndiGo neos by January 31, 2020. Eventually, another aircraft was used for the Mumbai-Bengaluru flight and it took off at 12.23pm, a nearly three hour delay.
In a similar incident on Monday, an IndiGo Neo aircraft flying from Chennai to Hyderabad was grounded at the destination for engine replacement, after 'momentary engine vibrations' were experienced during the flight.
