Regulator Orders Airbus A350 Engine Checks

DALLAS — The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandated an urgent one-time inspection of Airbus A350 engines following a midair fire on a Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) flight earlier this week. 

On Monday, a five-year-old CX A350-1000 made two wide circles and released fuel over the sea before safely returning to Hong Kong, landing approximately 75 minutes after departure. Following the incident, CX canceled nearly 70 flights after the plane in question, en route from Hong Kong to Zurich, had to return due to an "engine component failure."

The airline has since inspected all 48 of its Airbus A350 aircraft, discovering that 15 had faulty parts requiring replacement. These aircraft are powered by Trent XWB-97 engines manufactured by the British manufacturer Rolls-Royce.

According to Bloomberg.com, EASA plans to issue an emergency airworthiness directive specifying the required fuel-line checks. The directive will focus on inspecting and replacing any potentially compromised high-pressure fuel hoses in the Trent XWB-97 engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce, which power the A350-1000 model.

Cathay Pacific aims to restore all of the 15 A350s to service by Saturday. Meanwhile, other major operators, including Japan Airlines (JL) , Singapore Airlines (SQ), and Etihad Airways (ET), have begun similar checks on their A350 fleets, with no significant issues reported.

This precautionary measure follows preliminary findings from the ongoing investigation led by Hong Kong's Air Accident Investigation Authority, Airbus, and Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce's shares dropped following the news, as did Airbus'.