EU orders Airbus A350 inspections after Cathay engine fire

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PARIS – Europe’s aviation safety agency said it will require inspection of part of the fleet of Airbus A350 wide-body jets in operation after an engine fire on a Cathay Pacific flight.
Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines on Cathay’s A350s, confirmed it was launching “a one-time precautionary engine inspection programme” and was “working very closely” with the EU agency.
Hong Kong-based Cathay, one of the largest operators of the long-haul A350 jetliner, grounded 48 planes for checks on Monday after a Zurich-bound flight had to return to the city shortly after take-off.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said that the A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a high pressure fuel hose failing.
EASA said there was an “in-flight engine fire shortly after take-off”, which was “promptly detected and extinguished”.
The agency said the incident was the subject of a safety investigation led by the Air Accident Investigation Authority of Hong Kong (AAIA).
In its emergency directive addressed to airlines, the EASA mandated inspections on A350-1000s which are powered by XWB-97 engines.
There are 86 such planes in service worldwide, according to the EASA.
The move does not affect the A350-900 model, of which there are 526 planes in operation according to Airbus figures from July.
The inspections, to check for damage of fuel hose connections inside engines, “need to take place over the next 3-30 days” according to an EASA statement.
“This action is a precautionary measure,” executive director Florian Guillermet said.
The agency said earlier that the directive would only apply to European airlines that fly the aircraft, with regulators in other countries fre to decide whether or not to enforce it.