Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) says it has identified 15 affected aircraft out of its 48-strong A350 fleet after an engine part failure in a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine powering an A350-1000 flight to Zurich earlier this week, causing it to return to Hong Kong and the carrier to ground its entire A350 fleet.
Reuters reported that the failure on the Airbus widebody was caused by a faulty fuel nozzle. In a September 2 statement, Cathay Pacific said all of its operational A350s were inspected over a 24-hour period.
"In total, we have identified 15 aircraft with affected engine components that require replacement, and three have already gone through successful repairs," the statement said. "The remaining aircraft will continue to be out of service until they have been repaired and cleared for operation. We expect that all affected aircraft will resume operations by September 7."
Cathay Pacific operates eighteen A350-1000s and thirty A350-900s. The -900s use Rolls Royce Trent XWB-84 engines. Following the September 1 incident, Cathay paused A350 operations pending inspections and consequently cancelled dozens of flights. "This component was the first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide," the carrier's statement added.
In its own statement, Rolls Royce said it was “committed to working closely with the airline, aircraft manufacturer, and the relevant authorities to support their investigation into this incident.”
The ch-aviation fleets module shows there are eighty-eight A350-1000s in service worldwide. In addition to those at Cathay Pacific, there are three of the type at Air Caraibes Atlantique, eighteen at British Airways, five at Etihad Airways, two at French Bee, five at JAL - Japan Airlines, twenty-four at Qatar Airways, and twelve at Virgin Atlantic, plus one testbed aircraft at Airbus. Airbus data indicates a further 209 A350-1000s are on order.
