An Allegiant Air
Airbus A319 was forced to return to Las Vegas after one of its engines failed soon after takeoff. The aircraft landed safely back at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and would remain grounded for almost four days before returning to service.
Allegiant Airbus A319 suffers engine inflight shutdown
As per a report from The Aviation Herald, an Allegiant Airbus A319-100 had just taken off from Las Vegas en route to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) on January 2nd when its left hand engine failed. The aircraft was climbing out of Las Vegas when pilots aborted the climb at around FL200 before shutting down the affected engine.
Photo: Flightradar24
The aircraft circled back to Las Vegas and landed on the airport’s Runway 26L approximately 35 minutes after takeoff. There were no reported injuries and the aircraft landed without incident. It would subsequently undergo an inspection by emergency services, which said the engine “appeared normal”, before taxiing to the apron.
Simple Flying has reached out to Allegiant Air for comment and will update this news story accordingly.
Allegiant’s A319 is powered by two CFM56-5B engines – the CFM56 is the world’s most popular commercial aircraft engine, with over 33,000 engines delivered. Along with Airbus A320-family aircraft, it powers the Boeing 737, although it was supplanted by CFM’s newer LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B for the A320neo and 737 MAX, respectively. The engine has also been chosen to power a handful of military aircraft, including the E-6 Mercury and the KC-135 Stratotanker.
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The Engine Of The Future: How Does The CFM LEAP Differ From The CFM-56?
The CFM LEAP engine provides over 15% greater efficiency while retaining the reliability of the CFM-56.
According to CFM International, the CFM56
has maintained an in-flight shutdown (IFSD) rate of .003, which means an average of one engine shutdown every 333,333 flight hours. It is one of two engine options for A320ceo aircraft, the other being the IAE V2500 – the majority of operators have opted for CFM’s engine at around 60% of A320ceo planes ordered.
Replacement flight reaches Rapid City
Passengers on the flight disembarked the aircraft and the airline arranged for a replacement aircraft, an A320-200 (registration: N220NV).
However, passengers would have to stay overnight in Las Vegas before boarding the replacement flight early the next morning.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
This flight departed LAS at 07:20 on January 3rd, arriving in Rapid City at 10:00, representing a delay of just under 13 hours.
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About the affected aircraft
The A319-100 (registration: N312NV) involved in this incident is a 20-year-old former easyJet plane that arrived at Allegiant Air in January 2018. Prior to this, it spent over 13 years flying for easyJet as G-EZEV after it was delivered to the British low-cost carrier straight from the factory in September 2004.
According to data from ch-aviation, this airframe has accumulated over 53,000 flight hours and 35,700 flight cycles over its 20-year service life. Inflight engine shutdowns are very rare, and the chances are you will never experience one as a passenger. As Simple Flying has noted in this handy article on inflight engine shutdowns, even the average commercial pilot will not experience one during their entire career either (although they are fully trained to deal with them).
Photo: orso bianco | Shutterstock
Interestingly, experts state that, more often than not, engine shutdowns aren’t due to some kind of mechanical issue or maintenance oversight but as a result of problems with fuel, be it engine fuel supply issues, fuel starvation or contamination.
Flightradar24 shows the plane remained grounded in Las Vegas for almost four days – it would eventually depart the airport on January 6th, operating a three-hour flight to Knoxville (TYS). Tracking data shows the plane flew back to Las Vegas on the same day, where it remained on the ground for another three days before re-entering regular service.
