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What is the concern with Cathay Pacific's A350 Rolls-Royce engines?

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways stated on Tuesday it had examined its entire Jet A350 fleet after the inflight failure of an element in an engine that is made by British manufacturer RollsRoyce .

WHAT OCCURRED ON THE FLIGHT?

An issue unfolded several minutes after liftoff on flight CX383 from Hong Kong to Zurich on Monday, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar24.

The five-year-old A350-1000 plane performed two wide circles and disposed fuel over the sea before returning to Hong Kong where it landed securely about 75 minutes after its departure.

Cathay Pacific stated it identified an engine element failure after the airplane returned to Hong Kong.

WHY DID THE A350 ENGINE FAIL?

Cathay Pacific has not defined which engine element failed, but the carrier said it was the very first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 airplane worldwide.

A person knowledgeable about the matter told Reuters the event involved an issue with a fuel nozzle inside a XWB-97 engine, the Rolls-Royce model used on the A350-1000.

THE NUMBER OF KINDS OF A350S ARE THERE?

The Airplane A350 is a twin-aisle long-haul airplane that can carry in between 300 and 480 travelers. It is available in 2 sizes: the A350-900 and the larger A350-1000, both powered specifically by Rolls-Royce engines.

WHAT ENGINE DOES THE A350 USE?

The A350-1000 and the A350 truck usage Trent XWB-97 engines, Rolls-Royce's largest civil jet engine.

The more popular A350-900 uses its Trent XWB-84 engines.

ARE ALL A350 ENGINES AFFECTED?

Cathay Pacific said the event took place on among its 18 A350-1000 planes. It has actually considering that recognized 15 aircraft with engine components that need replacement and three have currently gone through repair work.

Rolls-Royce on Tuesday noted the replacement might take location while the engine stayed on-wing. It also said it was dedicated to working carefully with Cathay Pacific, Airplane and authorities conducting an examination of the incident. The engine maker did not right away respond to an ask for talk about the reported fuel nozzle problem.

THE NUMBER OF A350 AIRPLANE COULD BE IMPACTED?

There are 88 A350-1000 jets in operation worldwide, according to Swiss air travel intelligence service provider ch-aviation.

The top 6 operators are Qatar Airways with 24 aircrafts, British Airways with 18, Cathay Pacific with 18, Virgin Atlantic with 12 and Etihad Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL). with 5 each.

There are 520 A350-900s in operation worldwide, ch-aviation. data showed.

It is not clear whether other airlines are inspecting their. engines.

Broker Jefferies said in a note to customers on Monday that. 234 XWB-97 engines had been delivered to consumers by the end of. June.

WHICH CATHAY PACIFIC FLIGHTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED?

Cathay Pacific said on Tuesday it had cancelled a minimum of 34. round-trip flights between Hong Kong and Sydney, Osaka, Tokyo,. Taipei, Bangkok and Singapore until the end of Wednesday. Long-haul services need to not be impacted, it said.

The airline company's A350s also serve destinations in Europe and. North America.

WHAT ARE OTHER AIRLINES WITH A350S DOING?

Tokyo-based JAL, which has five A350-1000s that are all less. than a years of age, stated it has asked Rolls-Royce for more. information and had not stopped A350 flights in the meantime.

Taiwan's China Airlines, which operates 15. A350-900s however no A350-1000s, said its fleet did not utilize the. affected engines, so its operations would not be affected.

Qatar Airways said the concern had no effect on its A350-1000s. and it continues to monitor any advancements.

(source: Reuters)