Forex – Europe’s aviation safety agency said it will request an inspection of part of its operating fleet of Airbus A350 wide-body jets following an engine fire on a Cathay Pacific flight.
Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines for Cathay’s A350s, confirmed it had launched a “one-off precautionary engine review programme” and was “working very closely” with the EU agency.
Hong Kong-based Cathay, one of the biggest operators of the long-haul A350 jetliner, grounded 48 aircraft for inspections on Monday after a flight to Zurich was forced to return to the city shortly after takeoff.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said in a statement that the A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to the failure of a high-pressure fuel hose. EASA stated that “an in-flight engine fire broke out shortly after take-off” and that it was “immediately detected and extinguished.”