After grounding its 48 wide-body Airbus A350s on Monday, Cathay Pacific confirmed that it had found problems with 15 of the aircraft and that they would require repairs.
The emergency measure came after the crew of flight CX383 received a fire alert in the right engine of the A350-1000 aircraft, registration B-LXI, minutes after taking off from Hong Kong bound for Zurich, Switzerland.
The aircraft then returned to its departure airport and underwent inspection, prompting Cathay to suspend all A350 flights on its network until it identifies which ones might be experiencing the same problem.
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The A350 uses the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 turbofan, but the company declined to comment on the matter, claiming that “an investigation has been launched by the relevant authorities in Hong Kong under ICAO Annex 13”, which restricts any statement.
However, Rolls-Royce assured that it has spare parts available and that the replacement can be carried out while the engine is on the wing.
Finally, the manufacturer stated that it “will also keep other airlines that operate Trent XWB-97 engines fully informed of any relevant developments as appropriate.”
Cathay Pacific operates 30 A350-900s and 18 A350-1000s. The aircraft affected by the climb problem was delivered by Airbus in February 2019.
