Malaysia Airlines said on Friday it had found a “potential issue” with the engine of an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in its fleet, but added that the problem had been resolved.
The issue arose after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency directive to airlines requiring mandatory inspections of A350-1000s powered by Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines.
The checks were prompted by an “aircraft engine fire” on one of Cathay Pacific’s flights to Zurich, operated by Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific.
Malaysia Airlines’ fleet of A350-900 aircraft “recently underwent a precautionary inspection, during which a potential issue with the high-pressure fuel hoses on one aircraft was identified,” the airline said in a statement.
“This finding was promptly resolved and the aircraft has been fully released for service in accordance with strict maintenance protocols,” it added.
On Friday, following the incident, EASA said extending mandatory engine inspections to the XWB-84 engines on Malaysia Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 aircraft was “not justified at this time”.
The Cathay incident prompted other airlines in the region to conduct similar checks on their A350-900 and A350-1000 models, which are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 and XWB-97 engines respectively.
On Thursday, EASA reported that Cathay’s A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a ruptured high-pressure fuel hose.
It was also said that shortly after take-off there was a “fire in an aircraft engine” which was “immediately discovered and extinguished”.
According to the EASA, the XWB-84 engines are “similar to the XWB-97, but differ in design and maintenance history”.
Airbus said on Friday that the EASA guidance “clearly limits these (checks) to the Trent XWB-97 engine and states that inspections of the Trent XWB-84 are not justified based on the currently available information”.
Contacted by AFP, the European regulator said there was “no justification at this time” to extend inspections to the A350-900, which makes up the vast majority of A350s in service: 530, according to figures published by Airbus on Friday.
The problems with Airbus arise as US rival Boeing has tried in recent years to overcome concerns over safety and quality control.
– ‘Precautionary Inspection’ –
A Malaysia Airlines spokesperson told AFP the airline has seven A350-900s with Trent XWB-84 engines, all of which have been inspected.
“Safety and reliability are at the heart of our operations and we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of care for our passengers and crew,” the airline said in its statement.
Rolls-Royce announced on Thursday that it is launching a one-off preventive engine inspection program that could apply to “part of the A350 fleet.”
The first A350 was delivered to Qatar Airways in late 2014.
Since the end of production of the jumbo A380, the A350 has been Airbus’ largest aircraft.
There are currently 87 A350-1000 aircraft in operation worldwide.
There are 1,330 A350s on order for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a competitor in this class, of which 617 have been delivered, according to data from the end of August.
The largest version, the 1000, can carry almost 500 passengers and travel more than 16,000 kilometers in a single trip.
In the ‘Sunrise’ version, which has been ordered by Australian airline Qantas and flies direct between Sydney and London, that number is increased to almost 18,000 km.
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