Etihad Airways checking A350 jets for engine issues

GCAA is 'closely monitoring' the situation and sees 'no need for significant regulatory action'

Etihad Airways operates five of the Airbus A350-1000s and is the only airline in the UAE that has this aircraft type in active service. Reuters

Etihad Airways is undertaking checks on its fleet of Airbus A350-1000 aircraft after Cathay Pacific's mid-flight discovery of an engine component problem in this aircraft type.

The UAE airline is inspecting its fleet of five A350 wide-bodies but there is currently no requirement for any major regulatory action, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), told The National on Thursday.

“We at the GCAA are closely monitoring the situation in co-ordination with EASA [European Union Aviation Safety Agency], Airbus, and Rolls-Royce. As of today, there is no need for significant regulatory action,” the UAE's aviation body said.

“However, our national carrier, which operates this type of aircraft, is conducting proactive inspections across its A350 fleet.”

Etihad Airways has not discovered any problems as it inspects the Rolls-Royce engines on its A350 wide-bodies, an airline representative told The National on Thursday.

“At present Etihad has discovered no issues, nor experienced any similar events with the engine, hence does not anticipate any impact on its operations,” the representative said.

“The airline continues to monitor the situation alongside the aviation authorities and equipment manufacturers.”

Etihad Airways, which operates five of the Airbus A350-1000s, is the only airline in the UAE that has this aircraft type in service.

Several airlines are carrying out precautionary inspections on their Airbus A350 fleets after Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific found 15 planes that needed fuel line repairs following the in-flight failure of an engine part on Monday.

The Airbus A350-1000 is powered by the Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engine. There are 87 of these passenger aircraft with this engine type in service worldwide, one in storage and 210 on order, according to aviation data company Cirium. There are 55 A350 freighters on order, but none in service.

In-flight engine fire

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Thursday said it will require one-time inspections of part of the Airbus A350 fleet.

“We will require a one-time fleet inspection, which may be applicable only to a portion of the A350 fleet, in order to identify and remove from service any potentially compromised high pressure fuel hoses,” an EASA spokeswoman said.

EASA said that Cathay Pacific flight CX383 from Hong Kong to Zurich on Monday experienced an in-flight engine fire shortly after take-off. The fire was promptly detected and extinguished, and the aircraft returned safely to Hong Kong.

The safety regulator said it is taking “precautionary measures” to prevent any further similar occurrences. Its decision is based on the preliminary information provided by the continuing safety investigation led by the Air Accident Investigation Authority of Hong Kong, as well as from CAA Hong Kong, Airbus and Rolls-Royce, it said.

EASA will also release an airworthiness directive with details of the inspection later on Thursday, it said. “The specific details and requirements of this inspection, as well as the compliance time limits, are still being determined and will be outlined in an EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive.”

Airbus said: “We acknowledge the information provided by EASA and are working closely with Rolls-Royce and the authorities on the implementation of this precautionary measure.”

Rolls-Royce did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by The National.

The A350-1000, the larger of two models in the Airbus A350 family, and its Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines have been under scrutiny since Cathay Pacific's Zurich-bound jet was forced to return to Hong Kong after an engine problem.

The A350-1000 took to the skies for the first time in November 2016, followed by the first aircraft delivery in 2018 to debut customer Qatar Airways.

It is a larger variant to the new-generation A350-900, which entered service in 2015 also with Qatar Airways. The A350-900 uses the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines.

Customers of the A350-1000 include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.

Doha-based Qatar Airways on Tuesday said there has been no impact on the operation of its A350-1000s and that it continues to monitor any developments