The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has released a new Airworthiness Directive (AD) for Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines on Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.
This new directive replaces the previous emergency AD 2024-0174-E, which was implemented shortly after a serious incident involving Cathay Pacific flight CX383 leaving Hong Kong on September 2.
The A350-1000 aircraft experienced an engine fire shortly after takeoff. Flight crew detected and extinguished the minor fire, and the aircraft returned safely to Hong Kong.
Following this incident, inspections have now revealed that a specific cleaning process used during engine refurbishment may have been the cause of the fuel manifold main fuel hose deterioration. The new AD just released by EASA addresses this issue.
Why Was a New AD Issued?
A damaged fuel manifold main fuel hose led to a controlled, temporary engine fire and heat damage to the engine nacelle. This resulted in a commanded in-flight shutdown. The root cause is still under investigation.
If left unchecked, this problem could potentially cause a more severe engine fire and aircraft damage when combined with other failures. To tackle this safety concern, Rolls-Royce issued NMSB Trent XWB 72-AL165. This provides inspection and corrective action guidelines for certain Trent XWB-97 engines.
EASA then released an emergency directive AD 2024-0174-E. This mandated a one-time visual and dimensional inspection of the fuel manifold main fuel hoses.
Recent Developments
Since the previous emergency AD, inspections have shown that a particular cleaning process during engine refurbishment may degrade fuel manifold main fuel hoses.
Rolls-Royce discovered that the suspect cleaning process also affected Trent XWB-75, XWB-79, XWB-79B, and XWB-84 engines.. This potentially affects their safety.
In response, maintenance organizations have discontinued the problematic cleaning process as instructed by Rolls-Royce Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Quality Alert No. MRO 2024-21 issue 1.
Rolls-Royce has also issued a new NMSB outlining repetitive inspections for engines potentially affected by the suspect cleaning process.
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