Airbus Warns Of Problems With Pratt & Whitney Engines On A320neo Planes

(RTTNews) - Airbus SE (EADSF.PK, EADSY.PK) warned of new problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines on its A320neo planes, leading European air safety officials to issue emergency restrictions.

The move will force airlines operating the A320neo with affected engines to ground some of their planes.

The European Aviation Safety Agency Friday said it was aware of "several occurrences of engine in-flight shutdown" and other in-service events with the engine on the A320neo, Airbus's best-selling plane. It ordered flight restrictions on planes powered by those engines.

Separately, Pratt & Whitney said that, with the support of Airbus, it is in close contact with customers to address the results of a recent finding related to the knife edge seal in the High Pressure Compressor aft hub on the PW1100G-JM engine powering the A320neo. This issue is isolated to a limited subpopulation of engines.

Pratt & Whitney said, "We have identified the potentially affected engines and communicated with our customers. As a precaution, aircraft with these engines will be addressed in a manner consistent with the operational instructions issued by Airbus and coordinated between Airbus and Pratt & Whitney as needed."