Cathay Pacific Races to Fix A350 Engine Issue, and More

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Cathay Pacific Grounds 15 A350s for Urgent Engine Repairs After Unprecedented Failure

Cathay Pacific has grounded 15 of its Airbus A350 aircraft for urgent repairs after discovering an unprecedented engine component failure on one of its flights.

The airline is working to replace the faulty parts and expects to have all affected planes back in service by September 7th.

Key Points

• The issue was first identified on September 2nd when a Cathay Pacific A350-1000 (flight CX383) experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff from Hong Kong en route to Zurich
• The plane circled twice to dump fuel before safely returning to Hong Kong about 75 minutes later
• Cathay Pacific immediately launched a fleet-wide inspection of its 48 A350s (18 A350-1000s and 30 A350-900s) as a precaution
• 15 aircraft were found to have the same engine components that needed replacement; 3 have already been repaired
• Rolls-Royce, the engine manufacturer, confirmed spare parts are available for the repairs, which can be done without removing the engines
• The airline has had to cancel 34 flights so far, with 10 more regional cancellations expected on September 4th, but long-haul services remain unaffected.

What It Means

This unprecedented engine failure on the widely-used A350 has forced Cathay Pacific to ground nearly a third of its fleet for urgent inspections and repairs.

While the airline and Rolls-Royce are working to quickly resolve the issue with minimal disruption, the incident raises potential concerns about this particular engine component across other global A350 operators.

Regulators and airlines worldwide will likely be closely monitoring the situation and Rolls-Royce's investigation into the root cause.

Other key Aviation and Aerospace Industry updates for today 👇

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Condor Airlines Partners with Cirium for Comprehensive Aviation Data Solutions

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