A passenger plane crashes at New Chitose Airport during severe winter weather conditions. (Photo: Reuters)
Hong Kong's main airline Cathay Pacific has grounded most of its Airbus A350-1000 fleet and cancelled dozens of flights after an engine part failed in flight.
Flight CX383, flying from Hong Kong to Zurich, experienced the problem minutes after takeoff on Monday, causing the plane to be inspected, according to data from flight tracking service Flightradar24 seen by Reuters.
The five-year-old A350-1000 aircraft made two wide turns and dumped fuel overboard before returning to Hong Kong and landing safely about 75 minutes after departure.
Cathay Pacific said it confirmed the engine part had failed after the plane returned to Hong Kong.
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A Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 approaches for landing at Singapore's Changi International Airport on June 10, 2018. (Reuters/Tim Chung/Reuters)
“The aircraft was equipped with a Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine,” Rolls-Royce confirmed in an email to FOX Business, adding that authorities have launched an investigation.
The airline inspected all 18 of its A350-1000 planes, finding that 15 of them had parts that needed replacing.
Rolls-Royce said it was aware the airline was inspecting its aircraft and that “if any parts need to be replaced, spares are available and the replacement can be completed with the engines remaining on the wing.”
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An aircraft flies behind the new Airbus A350 delivered to Cathay Pacific at Hong Kong Airport on May 30, 2016. (REUTERS/Bobby Yip/REUTERS)
Rolls-Royce said in a statement that it was “committed to working closely with airlines, aircraft manufacturers and relevant authorities to support their efforts.”
The company said it would keep other airlines operating the same engines “fully informed of any relevant developments.”
In a statement to Fox Business, Cathay Pacific said the three aircraft with affected engine parts had already been “successfully repaired.”
An Airbus Industrie Airbus A350 aircraft (registration F-WMIL), an Airbus A350-1000 prototype aircraft, is displayed at the 53rd Paris Air Show 2019 at Le Bourget airport LBG, France. Le Bourget, Paris, France – 21 June 2019. (Nicholas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
| Ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricey | Rolls-Royce Holdings | 6.51 | -0.04 |
-0.61% |
| Easy | Airbus SE | 38.39 | -0.40 |
-1.03% |
| CPCAY | Cathay Pacific | 5.09 | +0.09 |
+1.80% |
“At Cathay Pacific, every decision we make is made with the safety of our customers and employees as our number one priority. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank our customers for their understanding and cooperation,” the airline said.
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Cathay Pacific Airways had cancelled at least 34 round-trip flights between Hong Kong and Sydney, Osaka, Tokyo, Taipei, Bangkok and Singapore by the end of Wednesday but said it expected the number of cancellations to reduce in the coming days.
Airbus did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
