Airbus, Pratt Analyzing Latest A320neo Engine Snag

Airbus confirmed Wednesday that a Pratt & Whitney PW1100G turbofan on one its A320neo flight-test aircraft suffered “minor damage” following hot-weather trials in Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates. The company stressed, however, that the incident would not affect certification schedules and plans to deliver the first Pratt-powered airplane to Qatar Airways by the end of the year.

“The Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neo flight-test aircraft MSN 6101 has completed the hot weather campaign successfully,” said Airbus in a written statement to AIN. “However after the last flight we had findings in the engine. We are currently analyzing the situation in close cooperation with our partner, Pratt & Whitney.

“We are confident with our partner Pratt & Whitney to resume flight tests of MSN 6101 soon. Our target to start theA320neo delivery stream in 2015 remains unchanged.”

Asked for comment on the status of the engine, Pratt & Whitney deferred to Airbus.

News of the latest incident comes some two months after MSN6101 returned to the air following discovery of a manufacturing defect in a 10-inch-diameter retaining ring in the powerplant’s combustor section. The three-month “pause” in flying forced the manufacturer to revise testing dates and modify the A320neo flight-test program to accommodate the changes. For example, an A320neo powered with alternative CFM International Leap-1A engines had to undertake additional work previously earmarked for the GTF-powered A320neos and unrelated to engine systems.

Before this latest finding, five A320neo flight-test airplanes, two of which the CFM engines power, had accumulated some 850 hours during more than 280 flights.