Cathay Pacific is inspecting its A350 fleet following an engine component failure identified mid-flight, the first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide, with a number of its fleet expected to be out of service for several days.
On route from Hong Kong to Zurich, scheduled flight CX383 “experienced an engine failure after take off, and returned to Hong Kong after dumping fuel over the sea for around 30 minutes to the southeast of the airport,” explained global tracking service Flight Radar. The A350 was powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, confirmed the powerplant manufacturer.
In a statement, Cathay Pacific explained: “We immediately brought this issue to the attention of the aircraft and engine manufacturers as well as our regulators”. As a “precautionary measure,” the airline also proactively initiated a fleet-wide inspection of its 48 A350 aircraft, with 15 aircraft thus far identified as requiring remedial attention. Around three of these have already gone through successful repairs.
“Thus far we have identified a number of the same engine components that need to be replaced, spare parts have been secured and repair work is underway,” continued Cathay Pacific. Cathay director of engineering Keith Brown noted that liaisons with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department, the aircraft manufacturer and the engine manufacturer are ongoing. Rolls-Royce added that although it cannot comment on the investigation, it noted the airline’s statement “that, to the extent that any components need replacing, spare parts have been secured and the replacement can be completed whilst the engine is on-wing”.
As a result of the disruption, Cathay has thus far had to cancel 24 return flights. The airline currently expects all affected aircraft to resume operations by 7 September. Flight Radar 24 calculates that 45% of these cancellations will impact operations at Hong Kong Airport, with Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka, Taipei and Sydney also affected.