Airbus, Rolls to break silence to airlines on Cathay Pacific A350 engine incident, sources say
Airbus, Rolls prepare to brief airlines on Cathay A350 incident
Cathay Pacific found 15 of its 48 A350s had damaged fuel lines
Some other carriers have made precautionary checks
Initial investigation highlights pierced pipe, cause unclear-sources
Too early to rule out findings requiring further action-sources
Recasts updating paragraphs 1-3, adds Rolls-Royce shares in paragraph 16
By Tim Hepher
PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) -Airbus AIR.PA and Rolls-Royce RR.L are preparing to brief airlines on the fallout from an engine emergency that prompted Cathay Pacific to review its fleet of A350s as pressure from airlines mounts for clarity, two people familiar with the matter said.
Barring fresh evidence as investigators examine the fuel system of a jet forced to return to Hong Kong on Monday, manufacturers have been leaning against recommending worldwide checks but the final word lies with regulators, the people said.
Briefings could go ahead as early as Thursday, they said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Some carriers including Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI and Japan Airlines 9201.T had been conducting precautionary checks of their entire A350 fleets after Cathay Pacific 0293.HK said it had found 15 of its 48 A350 jets needed repairs to fuel lines.
Airbus declined comment and referred queries to Hong Kong investigators, who could not be reached. Rolls-Royce and Cathay Pacific did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Although the stance so far suggests there is no immediate discovery of a widespread flaw, it is too early to rule out further findings or analysis that may eventually require action by other airlines, the people said, asking not to be identified.
It was not immediately clear whether the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) would endorse any decision to refrain from recommending fleet action, which threatens costly downtime as the industry wrestles with maintenance delays.
"We have no further comment at this stage as we are still completing our assessment," an EASA spokesperson said.
The A350-1000, the larger of two models in the Airbus A350 family, and its Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines have been under the spotlight since a Zurich-bound jet was forced to return to Hong Kong after an engine problem, later traced to a fuel leak.
Initial investigations have revealed that a flexible pipe feeding a fuel injection nozzle in the XWB-97 engine was pierced, the people said.
Hong Kong investigators are now expected to focus on whether that hole was the origin of the fuel leak or was itself caused by a different problem, yet to be identified, they added.
Hong Kong's Air Accident Investigation Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cathay Pacific said earlier it would return all Airbus A350s, including the smaller A350-900 version, to operation by Saturday following inspections and fuel line repairs on 15 jets, having cancelled dozens of flights to examine the planes.
It did not say what criteria it had used to decide whether the lines should be replaced nor whether the changes had been approved by Rolls-Royce, which typically oversees maintenance under long-term engine service contracts. Neither company responded to a request for comment on the repairs.
So far no other airline has reported damage to fuel lines. Some have carried out voluntary checks since the incident while others have said they are awaiting clarity from Rolls-Royce.
In London, shares in Rolls-Royce rose 1.8% on Wednesday, extending a partial recovery after steep falls on Monday.
Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Seoul and Joanna Plucinska in London; Editing by Franklin Paul and Jamie Freed
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إخلاء المسؤولية: تتيح كيانات XM Group خدمة تنفيذية فقط والدخول إلى منصة تداولنا عبر الإنترنت، مما يسمح للشخص بمشاهدة و/أو استخدام المحتوى المتاح على موقع الويب أو عن طريقه، وهذا المحتوى لا يراد به التغيير أو التوسع عن ذلك. يخضع هذا الدخول والاستخدام دائماً لما يلي: (1) الشروط والأحكام؛ (2) تحذيرات المخاطر؛ (3) إخلاء المسؤولية الكامل. لذلك يُقدم هذا المحتوى على أنه ليس أكثر من معلومات عامة. تحديداً، يرجى الانتباه إلى أن المحتوى المتاح على منصة تداولنا عبر الإنترنت ليس طلباً أو عرضاً لدخول أي معاملات في الأسواق المالية. التداول في أي سوق مالي به مخاطرة عالية برأس مالك.
جميع المواد المنشورة على منصة تداولنا مخصصة للأغراض التعليمية/المعلوماتية فقط ولا تحتوي - ولا ينبغي اعتبار أنها تحتوي - على نصائح أو توصيات مالية أو ضريبية أو تجارية، أو سجلاً لأسعار تداولنا، أو عرضاً أو طلباً لأي معاملة في أي صكوك مالية أو عروض ترويجية مالية لا داعي لها.
أي محتوى تابع للغير بالإضافة إلى المحتوى الذي أعدته XM، مثل الآراء، والأخبار، والأبحاث، والتحليلات والأسعار وغيرها من المعلومات أو روابط مواقع تابعة للغير وواردة في هذا الموقع تُقدم لك "كما هي"، كتعليق عام على السوق ولا تعتبر نصيحة استثمارية. يجب ألا يُفسر أي محتوى على أنه بحث استثماري، وأن تلاحظ وتقبل أن المحتوى غير مُعدٍ وفقاً للمتطلبات القانونية المصممة لتعزيز استقلالية البحث الاستثماري، وبالتالي، فهو بمثابة تواصل تسويقي بموجب القوانين واللوائح ذات الصلة. فضلاً تأكد من أنك قد قرأت وفهمت الإخطار بالبحوث الاستثمارية غير المستقلة والتحذير من مخاطر المعلومات السابقة، والذي يمكنك الاطلاع عليه هنا.
