Engine inspections requested on A350-1000 after a fire at Cathay Pacific

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Paris – Back to the hangar for some A350s: the European Union requests urgent inspection of a small part – the only A350-1000 model – of the fleet of these Airbus long-haul flagships, following an engine fire on a Cathay Pacific aircraft.

While the Hong Kong airline had mentioned a “failure” on a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine during a flight to Zurich (Switzerland) on Monday, the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) emphasized Thursday that it was an “in-flight engine fire, shortly after takeoff,” apparently linked to faulty “high-pressure fuel lines.”

“The fire was quickly detected and extinguished, and the aircraft returned safely to Hong Kong,” according to EASA.

Subsequently issuing an emergency directive to airlines, EASA specified that inspections are requested only on the A350-1000 fleet, aircraft equipped with XWB-97 engines. In total, 86 A350-1000s are currently in service worldwide. (September 5, 2024)