Pratt & Whitney recommended that commercial operators of Airbus A220 and Embraer E190-E2 aircraft conduct emergency inspections of the PW1500G and PW1900G engines powering those narrow-body jets. The notice follows a recent incident in which a Swiss Air A220 flight from London to Geneva was diverted to Paris due to engine failure. The aircraft was grounded in what investigators called a “serious incident".
The airline then grounded its fleet of A220 aircraft to inspect the engines for potential issues. The problem is reported to be the third incident over three months involving Swiss Air A220 jets. Also reportedly, the recent incident will be investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
The A220, formerly the Bombardier C-Series, is a twin-engine aircraft powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofan (GTF) engines. The current problem apparently is associated only to the A220-100, the smaller of two versions available. Other than Swiss Air, the major commercial operator of the A220-100 is Delta Air Lines, which has reported its 25 A220-100 aircraft are operating without incident.
The Embraer jets that Pratt & Whitney associated with the problem are the recently redesigned E-190 (called E190-E2), which is powered by the PW1900G engine. Just six of the jets have been delivered to customers.
The Pratt & Whitney PW1100G series in the past has been subject to increasing levels of engine vibration in service with the larger Airbus A320 series, notably at the higher-power setting in used during aircraft climb. However, Pratt & Whitney also has said the A220 and E-Jet versions of the GTF series are not affected by that specific issue.
