European aviation safety regulators will require airlines to conduct one-off fleet inspections of fuel hoses on some Airbus A350 aircraft.
The move, announced by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Thursday, follows an in-flight engine fire on a Cathay Pacific flight shortly after takeoff from Hong Kong to Zurich on September 1. The aircraft was powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.
Cathay Pacific has inspected engines on its 48 A350 aircraft following the fires, with 15 aircraft requiring engine fuel line replacement. The airline is expected to complete the replacements by Saturday and has cancelled a total of 90 flights scheduled between September 2 and September 7.
“This engine component failure was a significant event for Cathay Pacific to manage as it is the first of its kind on any A350 aircraft anywhere in the world,” Alex McGowan, Cathay Pacific’s chief operating and service delivery officer, said in prepared remarks.
Cathay Pacific’s A350s are powered by the XWB-97 variant of the Trent engine. Rolls-Royce said it was “committed to working closely with airlines, aircraft manufacturers and relevant authorities to support their efforts.”
EASA is only requiring inspections for the A350-1000s with XWB-97 engines, of which there are 86 worldwide. The inspections should take place over the next 3-30 days, depending on the individual engine details.
Airbus did not respond to a request for comment.
Cathay Pacific’s findings have already prompted other Asian airlines to take precautionary measures. Singapore Airlines said it was inspecting 64 Airbus A350s powered by a different Trent XWB variant, called XWB-84.
The airline said no flight schedules were changed as a result of the inspection.
Japan Airlines has inspected the fuel lines on five A350-1000s and found no defects. The airline is also inspecting 15 A350-900s.
Delta is the only U.S. A350 operator with 30 A350-900s. The aircraft are powered by the XWB-84 variant. The FAA has stated that Delta, the sole U.S. A350 operator, has no inspection requirements because it does not use the XWB-97 variant of the CWB engine.
“The Delta Air Lines team continues to operate its global operations with the same high standards of safety and reliability as it has always done,” the airline said Wednesday.
This report was updated on September 5 to include details from the FAA and the European Union.
