The European Aviation Safety Agency has directed airlines to carry out inspections of Airbus A350-1000s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.
Etihad Airways said in a statement on Friday that it had “proactively begun inspections of Rolls-Royce engines across its A350 fleet over the past 72 hours, in line with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guidance.”
It said it had “not detected any issues, nor experienced any similar events with the engine,” noting that it “does not expect any impact on its operations.”
Etihad Airways operates five of the aircraft, and is the only company in the UAE to own this type of aircraft.
Cathay Pacific, one of the world’s largest operators of the long-range A350, decided on Monday to inspect 48 of its aircraft after a flight to Zurich was forced to return to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff.
On Thursday, the European Aviation Safety Agency reported that the Cathay plane had suffered an engine failure due to a fault in the high-pressure fuel hose, and said, “An engine fire occurred on board the aircraft shortly after take-off,” noting that “it was immediately detected and extinguished.”
Rolls-Royce said Thursday it was in the process of starting a “one-time precautionary engine inspection programme” that could apply “to part of the A350 fleet”.
Qatar Airways was the launch customer for the Airbus A350 at the end of 2014, and there are currently 87 A350s in operation worldwide.
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