A350-1000, A350-900 Models Under Scrutiny

A number of airlines are performing precautionary inspections of their Airbus A350 aircraft after Cathay Pacific had to repair fuel lines following the in-failure of an engine part.

The failure occurred on a 5-year-old A350-1000 with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. However, carriers are also inspecting their A350-900 aircraft that uses different engines. In response, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued a directive to airlines to perform visual inspections and measurements on fuel houses in A350-1000 engines.

Airlines inspecting the A350-1000 include:

• Cathay Pacific: 48 aircraft, 15 required repairs
• Japan Airlines: 5 new aircraft, no defects found
• Qatar Airways: 24 aircraft, inspections in progress
• Etihad Airways: 5 aircraft, inspections in progress, no defects so far
• Virgin Atlantic: 12 aircraft, inspections in progress
• British Airways: 18 aircraft, has not commented on the situation

Airlines inspecting the A350-900 include:

• Japan Airlines: 15 aircraft, no defects found
• Air China: 30 aircraft, inspections to be performed
• Singapore Airlines: 63 aircraft, inspections in progress, no defects so far
• Delta Airlines: 30 aircraft, commented it runs its global operation “with the highest standard of care for safety, reliability, and care that we always do.”
• Thai Airways: 23 aircraft, commented it continuously makes regular engine checks.

FMI:  www.airbus.com/en