Cathay Pacific Airways cancelled dozens of flights on Tuesday after detecting an engine fault in one of its Airbus A350 aircraft. The mid-flight discovery of the problem forced the Zurich-bound flight to return to the carrier’s base in Hong Kong.
So what happened?
Cathay Pacific flight CX383 took off shortly after midnight on Monday, bound for Zurich. It didn’t get far however. Just minutes after departure, the A350 aircraft entered a holding pattern just south of Hong Kong before returning to the airport a short while later, according to FlightRadar.
Hong Kong’s flag carrier later said the plane was forced to return because of an engine component failure. A subsequent check of the fleet uncovered “a number of the same engine components that need to be replaced”, the company said in a statement.
What went wrong?
Cathay hasn’t publicly specified what engine part failed but, according to two people familiar with the matter, the airline suspects the problem lies with the hoses supplying fuel to the engine. The airline has asked its engineers to check the lines for abnormalities, deformation, kinks, bulges or degradation, the people said.
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While Airbus referred a request for comment to Rolls Royce and the airline, the engine maker said it’s “committed to working closely with the airline, aircraft manufacturer and the relevant authorities” on the matter.
Is this issue affecting all Cathay planes?
No. Only 15 of the airline’s 48 A350s have been found to have the issue. While three have already gone through successful repairs, the remaining aircraft will continue to be out of service until they’re repaired and cleared, with operations expected to fully resume by Saturday.
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Has there been a knock-on effect?
Travellers hoping to get to Singapore from Hong Kong on Tuesday may be out of luck. Cathay cancelled eight of its nine scheduled flights on the key route. The carrier axed 48 individual flights, including nearly half of its services from Hong Kong to Bangkok and those to Tokyo’s Narita airport.
An additional 20 flights scheduled for Wednesday have been cancelled too.
Have any other airlines been affected?
So far, the impact appears to be limited to Cathay. Japan Airlines said it had received no detailed information or recommended action from engine-maker Rolls Royce Holdings, but was checking the situation with them.
Singapore Airlines, which operates 64 A350s, the world’s largest fleet of the aircraft, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Is there an official investigation into this issue?
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The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has said an investigation is already underway with Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department acting as the lead agency. The Hong Kong agency has yet to confirm this.
How widespread could this problem be?
The problem was discovered in a XWB-97 engine made by Rolls Royce, which powers the A350-1000 variant, but the engines on the -900 variant also share some of the same components.
There are 86 of the jets in use around the world, with another 526 of the -900 version, according to data from Airbus.
Qatar Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways form among the largest operators of the fleet in addition to Cathay.
