Cathay's handling of engine glitch 'professional'
A flight engineering expert said on Tuesday the public should not worry about aircraft safety, after Cathay Pacific grounded its A350 flights due to an engine glitch on Monday which forced its Zurich-bound aircraft to fly back to Hong Kong. The carrier said on Tuesday that ongoing maintenance work had identified 15 airplanes whose engine components had problems which require replacements.  It said the affected planes were expected to be able to fly again on Saturday. Cathay has 48 A350 aircraft in its fleet. Warren Chim, the deputy chair of the Institute of Engineers' aircraft division, told RTHK he doesn't think passengers have to worry.  He said he believes the case required a "mandatory occurrence report", meaning it could lead to hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions.  But the engineer thinks Cathay's handling of the matter was professional. "As what we observed, everything after the incident happened in accordance with the established process and established procedures," he said. "So as a passenger, I don't think we need to over-worry about that because all the processes and procedures are according to the international practice." Chim stressed not only does Cathay need to report the case to local and European authorities, all engine parts will have to go through stringent tests before the planes can fly again. Nike Ng, an engineering lecturer with the Institute of Vocational Education, said there were around 600 A350 planes in operation around the world, and whether other airlines would be affected could depend on whether those engine parts came from the same batch as Cathay's faulty components.