Malaysia Airlines has reported an issue with the fuel hoses on a Trent XWB-84-powered A350-900.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has found a defect in high-pressure fuel hoses on an Airbus A350-900, an aircraft variant not covered by the Sept. 5 European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) requiring checks of these components.
“Malaysia Airlines Berhad confirms that its A350-900, Trent XWB-84 fleet recently underwent a precautionary inspection, during which a potential issue with high-pressure fuel hoses on one aircraft was identified,” the company said in a statement provided to Aviation Week. “This finding was swiftly resolved, and the aircraft has been fully cleared for service in accordance with stringent maintenance protocols.”
The disclosure comes a day after EASA issued an EAD requiring checks of Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines with varying deadlines depending on the number of cycles and hours an aircraft has flown. The larger XWB-97 only powers the A350-1000, whereas the A350-900 is equipped with the XWB-84.
“Trent XWB-84 engines, installed on the A350-900, are similar but differ in design and service history,” EASA said in its Sept. 5 statement. “On the basis of the available information, an extension of the measures to these engines is not warranted at this stage.” But the agency added that it is “in contact with Rolls-Royce and all other relevant parties. We are evaluating all available data as well as any new data as it becomes available.”
The EAD follows a Sept. 1 inflight engine fire on a Cathay Pacific A350-1000 shortly after takeoff from Hong Kong en route to Zurich on flight CX383. Crew were forced to shut down the engine and return to Hong Kong International Airport 70 min. into the flight. Following the diversion, Cathay found defect fuel hoses on a total 15 aircraft and had to cancel dozens of flights throughout the week.
Bloomberg previously quoted Cathay as saying that defects had been found on -900s and -1000s.
Since then, no other airline had identified any issues on either variant. There are 531 -900s and 87 -1000s in service as of Aug. 31. Cathay has 30 900-s and 18 -1000s. Malaysia Airlines operates seven -900s.
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