Cathay engine fire may be linked to cleaning, European regulator says
Aviation authority found ruptured fuel hose in A350 jet
Incident illustrates potential for fuel leaks, report says
AAIA urges Rolls-Royce to impose inspection requirements
Recasts to lead on potentially flawed cleaning process, adds context throughout, adds analyst comment in paragraph 17
By Tim Hepher, Rishav Chatterjee and Sneha Kumar
Sept 19 (Reuters) -European regulators have pinpointed a potentially flawed cleaning process during maintenance as investigators probe an engine fire that caused a Cathay Pacific Airbus jet carrying 348 people to turn back to base.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said on Thursday it was asking airlines to check the engines of more Airbus AIR.PA A350 jets but downgraded its response to the Sept. 2 incident, easing pressure on engine-maker Rolls-Royce RR.L.
The Airbus A350-1000 and its XWB-97 engines have been under scrutiny since the crew of a Zurich-bound flight detected an engine fire and extinguished it before dumping fuel and returning to Hong Kong, where it landed safely. The incident resulted in the grounding of a number of other Cathay 0293.HK flights.
Hong Kong's Air Accident Investigation Authority said on Thursday it had found a ruptured fuel hose in the jet's No. 2 engine, with five secondary hoses also showing signs of wear and tear. It said it had not yet identified the root cause.
"This serious incident illustrates the potential for fuel leaks through the ruptured secondary fuel manifold hose, which could result in engine fires," the AAIA said in a report.
Its report, unexpectedly released two weeks before the deadline for such initial summaries, started a rare exchange of contrasting safety announcements with European regulators.
The Hong Kong agency said the ongoing investigation would range from design to production, installation and maintenance and suggested the incident could have been much worse.
"If not promptly detected and addressed, this situation, along with further failures, could escalate into a more serious engine fire, potentially causing extensive damage to the aircraft," the report said.
But EASA, updating its own guidance several hours later, focused on the way such engines are maintained and called for checks on all A350 jets - including the more popular A350-900 - that have had at least two repair visits. It also downgraded its directive by dropping its previous "emergency" status, meaning it is less concerned about an immediate safety risk.
Previously it had only ordered checks on A350-1000 engines.
"In-service and in-shop inspections since then have identified that a specific cleaning process available during engine refurbishment may lead to fuel manifold main fuel hose degradation", EASA said.
One person familiar with the probe said the wrong type of cleaning product may have been used in at least one repair plant.
The checks are designed to find whether other engines may have been damaged in this way. So far only Cathay has confirmed it found some fuel-line damage on other jets, though Malaysia Airlines said it found and solved a potential problem.
SAFETY MICROSCOPE
The aborted flight triggered global headlines at a time when air safety is under the microscope and the engine industry is reeling from a string of industrial problems.
Shares in Rolls-Royce fell sharply after the initial incident but have recovered and gained 5% on Thursday.
Even before EASA's intervention, analysts said concerns about further engine-industry upheaval had eased.
"Combined with the lack of defective parts found in the fleet thus far, we believe that the issue implies minimal cost (or) disruption to all parties," Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie said.
The incident highlights the narrow margin for error in modern advanced jet engines, coupled with the importance of onboard systems that extinguished the fire in less than a minute.
The ruptured part links a manifold, where fuel arrives, to one of about 20 nozzles that spray fuel into a combustor to be ignited and turned into hot gas providing part of the thrust of the huge engine, the largest of its kind made in Europe.
Reuters first reported shortly after the incident that the engine's fuel-nozzle system was at the centre of the probe, rather than a more critical rotating part, and Bloomberg News reported that scrutiny focused on the nozzle's steel-braided fuel line.
Regulators did not say who carried out maintenance. Engine-makers frequently conduct maintenance themselves and Rolls-Royce has a specialist network for handling the Trent XWB.
Rolls had no immediate comment on repair networks but said airlines would check a "limited number" of A350-900 engines.
"Inspections of our Trent XWB-97 engines have progressed well, and we are confident we can continue at this pace, working closely with our supply chain to maintain minimal disruption,” the company said.
Cathay said it had complied with EASA inspections and added the fuel pipe was the first component of its type to suffer such a failure on an A350.
Airbus said it was working with Rolls-Royce and airlines on EASA's updated guidance.
Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee, Himanshi Akhand, Sameer Manekar and Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Alexander Smith and Rod Nickel
संबंधित परिसंपत्तियाँ
ताजातरीन समाचार
अस्वीकरण: XM Group के सत्व केवल निष्पादन वाली सेवा और हमारी ऑनलाइन व्यापार सुविधा में पहुँच प्रदान करते हैं, ताकि व्यक्ति वेबसाइट पर या उसके जरिए उपलब्ध सामग्री को देख सके और/या उसका उपयोग कर सके। इसका प्रयोजन इसे बदलना या विस्तार देना नहीं है, न ही वह इसे बदलता या विस्तार देता है। इस तरह की पहुँच हमेशा ही निम्नलिखित के अधीन रहेगी: (1) नियम और शर्तें; (2) जोखिम चेतावनियाँ; और (3) पूर्ण अस्वीकरण। इसलिए ऐसी जानकारी सामान्य सूचना से अधिक कुछ भी नहीं है। विशेष रूप से, कृपया इससे अवगत रहें कि हमारी ऑनलाइन व्यापार सुविधा की सामग्रियाँ न तो किसी चीज का अनुरोध करती हैं, न ही वित्तीय बाजारों में प्रवेश करने की पेशकश ही करती हैं। किसी भी वित्तीय बाजार में व्यापार करने के साथ आपकी पूँजी को उल्लेखनीय जोखिम है।
हमारी ऑनलाइन व्यापार सुविधा में प्रकाशित सभी सामग्रियाँ शैक्षणिक/सूचनात्मक प्रयोजनों मात्र के लिए हैं, और इनमें वित्तीय, निवेश टैक्स या व्यापार सलाह और सुझाव नहीं हैं - न ही ऐसा समझना चाहिए कि इनमें ये सब हैं; न ही इनमें हमारी व्यापार कीमतों का अभिलेख है; न ही इनमें किसी वित्तीय उपकरण में लेन-देन करने का निमंत्रण या अनुरोध है; न ही ये आपको अवांछित वित्तयी प्रोमोशन पेश करती हैं।
इस वेबसाइट में मौजूद कोई भी तृतीय पक्षीय सामग्री, तथा XM द्वारा तैयार की गई सामग्रियाँ, जैसे: अभिप्राय, समाचार, अनुसंधान, विश्लेषण, कीमतें और अन्य सूचनाएँ या तृतीय पक्षों की साइटों के लिंक, "जैसा-है-वैसा" के आधार पर बाजार के बारे में सामान्य टिप्पणी के रूप में उपलब्ध कराई गई हैं, और वे निवेश हेतु सलाह नहीं हैं। जिस हद तक कीसी सामग्री को निवेश अनुसंधान मान लिया जाता है, उस हद तक आपको ध्यान में रखना होगा और इसे स्वीकार करना होगा कि वह सामग्री इस उद्देश्य से और निवेश अनुसंधान की स्वतंत्रता को बढ़ावा देने के लिए कानूनी आवश्यकताओं के मुताबिक, तैयार नहीं की गई है, और इसलिए उसे प्रासंगिक कानूनों और विनियमों के तहत विपणन संप्रेषण माना जाएगा। कृपया सुनिश्चित करें कि आपने गैर-आश्रित निवेश के बारे में हमारी सूचना को पढ़ और समझ लिया है। पीछे दी गई जानकारी के बारे में अनुसंधान और जोखिम चेतावनी यहाँ उपलब्ध है।
