Airbus A350s To Be Inspected Following Groundings

There’s been a new update following Cathay Pacific’s temporary grounding after it identified engine issues on an Airbus A350 flight from Hong Kong to Zurich.

The update follows the inspection of other Airbus A350 aircraft following the incident after concerns emerged over whether the issue was to be widespread.

When Cathay Pacific grounded its fleet to inspect the Rolls Royce engines, it determined that 18 of the almost 50 units had a similar problem and would need immediate repair work.

That revelation immediately indicated that the issue not previously identified across any other unit in the globally active fleet was plaguing other jets with the airline.

While groundings can be frustrating at the best of times, Cathay Pacific has reaffirmed since the beginning not just its commitment to safety but also its knowledge that the repair work will be efficient and, once completed, result in a safe aircraft being airborne.

Cathay Pacific noted that the flight schedule would return to normality by next week, aided by the airline’s ability to sort the required parts to initiate the repair process.

Amid a major supply chain shortage with issues in parts, labour, and more, the ability to obtain the required parts in such a prompt manner to remedy the issue has been praised, especially in comparison to other ongoing engine issues with other manufacturers.

Inspections Required Now

After an investigation and key regulators alongside Airbus calculating their next move, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has requested inspections of the Airbus A350 fleet.

The inspections come primarily as a precaution following the incident and to ensure the active fleet of Airbus A350s doesn’t have something similar that has previously gone undetected. Rolls-Royce and Airbus will work with the affected airlines that require the inspections.

Since the beginning of the issue, Rolls Royce has remained committed to ensuring the highest levels of safety throughout its company. As a result, it has been in full communication with Cathay and supporting the airline and now others that’ll require inspections or prospective repair work.

The Investigation

Furthermore, confirmation has arrived that the failure of a part centred around the fuel system actually caused a fire to break out. However, the crew was quick to act and extinguish the fire.

As the incident is still raw, preliminary investigations published in the media indicated that a flexible pipe was pierced, which is essential for feeding a fuel injection nozzle on the Rolls Royce engine.

Following the findings, the A350-1000 is most notably the front-and-centre variant; this is the high-capacity variant of the widebody produced by Airbus.