Swiss Grounds Entire A220 Fleet For Engine Inspections

Swiss has grounded their entire fleet of Airbus A220, following a new engine shut down that occurred earlier today. This is the third incident, since July, involving Swiss A220 aircraft powered with Pratt & Whitney PW1524 engine.

Today’s Incident

According to Avherald, a Swiss A220-300 with registration HB-JCC and performing flight LX-359 from London Heathrow (UK) to Geneva (Switzerland), was climbing through FL340 out of Heathrow when the crew made the decision to divert to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) due to a shut down of one of the engines.

French BEA reported the occurrence and rated it as “a serious incident” and investigators have been dispatched to CDG. The investigation was been delegated to the NTSB.

Security Measures Taken by Swiss

As a result of this incident, the airline decided to immediately ground their full fleet of A220’s for complete engine inspections. Remember that Swiss is the world’s largest operator of the A220, with a total of 29 aircraft (including nine A220-100s and 20 A220-300s).

SWISS has decided to conduct engine inspections for its entire C Series fleet. This means that all SWISS C Series aircraft will undergo an extensive examination from today onwards. Only following a faultless inspection will these aircraft be returned to regular flight duties.

— Swiss Intl Air Lines (@FlySWISS) October 15, 2019

With this situation Swiss has cancelled all flights operated by their Airbus A220, affecting services out of Geneva and Zurich to such destinations as Bucharest, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Lisbon, Munich, Frankfurt, London, Warsaw and Birmingham.

Below is the Swiss statement:

Update 2/2: SWISS takes these incidents very seriously and continues to maintain close contact with the responsible authorities, Airbus Canada & Pratt&Whitney. The safety of our customers and crews is our top priority. We deeply regret the inconveniences caused to our passengers.

— Swiss Intl Air Lines (@FlySWISS) October 15, 2019

Previous Problems

Operators of A220s were subsequently ordered to conduct repetitive checks of the compressor rotor and inlet guide vane of engines with fewer than 300 cycles. The inspections were also extended to the Embraer E2-family jets, because their PW1900G engines have a similar design.

For those interested in additional details, here is the article:

FAA Orders Inspection for Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 P&W Engines

Situation Update

According to FlightGlobal, Swiss has started returning their Airbus A220s to flight operational status.

Airbus doesn’t expect much of an impact, with complete restoration of Swiss A220 operations estimated to occur by the 17th of October.

Operators of the A220 are being advised of low-pressure compressor speed limitations. Additionally, borescope inspections are required to determine if there are any issues within the engine.

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is in charge of the investigation covering the multiple engine failures of Pratt and Whitney Geared Turbofan engines.

Airbus is providing full support to Swiss, Pratt and Whitney, investigative authorities and other airlines questioning the situation.

Covered Image by Mick Planespotter