The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring the inspection of all Rolls Royce Trent XWB97 engines following an inflight incident with a Cathay Pacific A350-1000 on 2 September. After a contained fire and commanded inflight shutdown of the affected engine, inspections on the ground revealed a damaged fuel manifold main fuel hose. It is that fuel hose for which EASA has now ordered fleet-wide inspections.
What needs to be inspected?
EASA is requiring inspections of the fuel manifold main fuel hose on all in service Rolls Royce Trent XWB97 engines. The XWB97 exclusively powers the Airbus A350-1000. The Rolls Royce Trent XWB84, which powers the A350-900 fleet is not affected by this emergency airworthiness directive. EASA says its investigation into the root cause of the damaged hose is ongoing.
The agency is requiring all engines complete inspections within 30 days of the effective date of the EAD, which is 9 September. Engines in two subgroups must complete inspections sooner.
Within 3 days (by 12 September)
Engines having accumulated 18 500 engine hours or more since new and that have had 2 or more previous shop visits (Hospital, Check & Repair, Refurbishment or Overhaul)
or
Engines having accumulated 2 300 engine cycles or more since new and that have had 2 or more previous shop visits (Hospital, Check & Repair, Refurbishment or Overhaul)
Within 7 days (by 16 September)
Engines which are not in Group 1, which have had a previous shop visit (Hospital, Check & Repair, Refurbishment or Overhaul)
Which airlines are affected?
87 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft are in service with eight airlines around the world. Qatar Airways operates the greatest number of A350-1000s with 24 in its fleet. Cathay Pacific and British Airways each operate 18, while Virgin Atlantic maintains a fleet of 12. Etihad Airways and Japan Airlines each operate five, while Air Caraïbes has three and French Bee has two.
| MSN | REGISTRATION | AIRLINE | FIRST FLIGHT (AGE) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | F-HMIL | Air Caraibes | Feb 2017 (7 years) |
| 482 | F-HTOO | Air Caraibes | May 2021 (3 years) |
| 533 | F-HSIS | Air Caraibes | Sep 2021 (3 years) |
| 326 | G-XWBA | British Airways | Jul 2019 (5 years) |
| 340 | G-XWBB | British Airways | Aug 2019 (5 years) |
| 362 | G-XWBC | British Airways | Nov 2019 (4 years) |
| 374 | G-XWBD | British Airways | Dec 2019 (4 years) |
| 386 | G-XWBE | British Airways | Jan 2020 (4 years) |
| 402 | G-XWBF | British Airways | Apr 2020 (4 years) |
| 432 | G-XWBG | British Airways | Aug 2020 (4 years) |
| 446 | G-XWBH | British Airways | Oct 2020 (3 years) |
| 473 | G-XWBI | British Airways | Jun 2021 (3 years) |
| 490 | G-XWBJ | British Airways | Jan 2022 (2 years) |
| 495 | G-XWBK | British Airways | Jan 2022 (2 years) |
| 547 | G-XWBL | British Airways | Mar 2022 (2 years) |
| 563 | G-XWBM | British Airways | Jul 2022 (2 years) |
| 609 | G-XWBN | British Airways | Apr 2023 (1 year) |
| 617 | G-XWBO | British Airways | Jun 2023 (1 year) |
| 623 | G-XWBP | British Airways | Jul 2023 (1 year) |
| 639 | G-XWBR | British Airways | Nov 2023 (Brand new) |
| 652 | G-XWBS | British Airways | Jan 2024 (Brand new) |
| 118 | B-LXA | Cathay Pacific | May 2018 (6 years) |
| 169 | B-LXB | Cathay Pacific | Aug 2018 (6 years) |
| 188 | B-LXC | Cathay Pacific | Jun 2018 (6 years) |
| 206 | B-LXD | Cathay Pacific | Sep 2018 (5 years) |
| 225 | B-LXE | Cathay Pacific | Oct 2018 (5 years) |
| 233 | B-LXF | Cathay Pacific | Oct 2018 (5 years) |
| 252 | B-LXG | Cathay Pacific | Oct 2018 (5 years) |
| 258 | B-LXH | Cathay Pacific | Nov 2018 (5 years) |
| 262 | B-LXI* | Cathay Pacific | Jan 2019 (5 years) |
| 286 | B-LXJ | Cathay Pacific | Feb 2019 (5 years) |
| 296 | B-LXK | Cathay Pacific | Mar 2019 (5 years) |
| 306 | B-LXL | Cathay Pacific | May 2019 (5 years) |
| 380 | B-LXM | Cathay Pacific | Jun 2020 (4 years) |
| 424 | B-LXN | Cathay Pacific | May 2021 (3 years) |
| 434 | B-LXO | Cathay Pacific | Feb 2021 (3 years) |
| 503 | B-LXP | Cathay Pacific | Jul 2022 (2 years) |
| 509 | B-LXQ | Cathay Pacific | Aug 2022 (2 years) |
| 584 | B-LXR | Cathay Pacific | Nov 2022 (1 year) |
| 290 | A6-XWB | Etihad Airways | Apr 2019 (5 years) |
| 315 | A6-XWA | Etihad Airways | May 2019 (5 years) |
| 330 | A6-XWC | Etihad Airways | Jun 2019 (5 years) |
| 342 | A6-XWE | Etihad Airways | Apr 2020 (4 years) |
| 388 | A6-XWF | Etihad Airways | Apr 2020 (4 years) |
| 539 | F-HMIX | French Bee | Oct 2021 (2 years) |
| 560 | F-HMIB | French Bee | May 2022 (2 years) |
| 610 | JA01WJ | Japan Airlines | Oct 2023 (Brand new) |
| 628 | JA02WJ | Japan Airlines | Nov 2023 (Brand new) |
| 635 | JA03WJ | Japan Airlines | Mar 2024 (Brand new) |
| 662 | JA04WJ | Japan Airlines | Jul 2024 (Brand new) |
| 670 | JA05WJ | Japan Airlines | Jul 2024 (Brand new) |
| 88 | A7-ANA | Qatar Airways | Dec 2017 (6 years) |
| 102 | A7-ANB | Qatar Airways | May 2018 (6 years) |
| 110 | A7-ANC | Qatar Airways | Jul 2018 (6 years) |
| 125 | A7-AND | Qatar Airways | Aug 2018 (6 years) |
| 141 | A7-ANE | Qatar Airways | Oct 2018 (5 years) |
| 161 | A7-ANF | Qatar Airways | Nov 2018 (5 years) |
| 215 | A7-ANG | Qatar Airways | Feb 2019 (5 years) |
| 229 | A7-ANH | Qatar Airways | Mar 2019 (5 years) |
| 241 | A7-ANI | Qatar Airways | Apr 2019 (5 years) |
| 266 | A7-ANJ | Qatar Airways | Jun 2019 (5 years) |
| 332 | A7-ANK | Qatar Airways | Sep 2019 (5 years) |
| 346 | A7-ANL | Qatar Airways | Oct 2019 (4 years) |
| 350 | A7-ANM | Qatar Airways | Oct 2019 (4 years) |
| 356 | A7-ANN | Qatar Airways | Nov 2019 (4 years) |
| 368 | A7-ANO | Qatar Airways | Feb 2020 (4 years) |
| 372 | A7-ANP | Qatar Airways | Jan 2020 (4 years) |
| 382 | A7-ANQ | Qatar Airways | Mar 2020 (4 years) |
| 399 | A7-ANR | Qatar Airways | May 2020 (4 years) |
| 408 | A7-AOA | Qatar Airways | Sep 2021 (3 years) |
| 420 | A7-ANS | Qatar Airways | Aug 2020 (4 years) |
| 430 | A7-ANT | Qatar Airways | Nov 2021 (2 years) |
| 438 | A7-AOB | Qatar Airways | Jan 2022 (2 years) |
| 440 | A7-AOC | Qatar Airways | Apr 2022 (2 years) |
| 444 | A7-AOD | Qatar Airways | Jun 2022 (2 years) |
| 71 | G-VDOT | Virgin Atlantic | Jan 2017 (7 years) |
| 274 | G-VLUX | Virgin Atlantic | Jun 2019 (5 years) |
| 298 | G-VPOP | Virgin Atlantic | May 2019 (5 years) |
| 319 | G-VPRD | Virgin Atlantic | Jun 2019 (5 years) |
| 336 | G-VJAM | Virgin Atlantic | Jul 2019 (5 years) |
| 415 | G-VRNB | Virgin Atlantic | May 2020 (4 years) |
| 426 | G-VTEA | Virgin Atlantic | Jul 2020 (4 years) |
| 492 | G-VEVE | Virgin Atlantic | Aug 2021 (3 years) |
| 507 | G-VLIB | Virgin Atlantic | Feb 2022 (2 years) |
| 605 | G-VBOB | Virgin Atlantic | Apr 2023 (1 year) |
| 647 | G-VNVR | Virgin Atlantic | Feb 2024 (Brand new) |
| 655 | G-VELJ | Virgin Atlantic | Apr 2024 (Brand new) |
4 Responses
I’m curious as to what will be done for any North American carriers using the CWB97 engines. Delta uses 350’s out of DTW quite frequently.
Thanks mate I understand now. Good on ya.
I am no aeronautical engineer but I’m wondering if the new very high thrust turbofans have crossed some threshold where the torque of the turbofan rotors is causing problems. maybe this is also related to the mountings on the 777-9s.
Buena información.