Cathay Pacific A330 Engine Incident at Hong Kong International Airport (B-HLN)

Incident Overview and Reclassification On 1 February 2018, an Airbus A330-343 aircraft, registration B-HLN, operated by Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, took off from Hong Kong International Airport at approximately 2100 hours local time. During the takeoff phase, the No.1 engine triggered a stall message accompanied by an audible surge, along with ECAM messages indicating high N2 and N3 vibration and low oil pressure. In accordance with standard operating procedures, the flight crew performed a commanded inflight shutdown (IFSD) of the affected engine. The aircraft subsequently returned to Hong Kong International Airport and landed safely. The event was initially ordered as a serious incident investigation in October 2018 by the then Chief Inspector under the Hong Kong Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations (Cap. 448B). Following the collection of evidence and analysis, the occurrence was reclassified as an incident in line with the latest ICAO guidance on occurrence classification. The final report, designated AAIA 04-2021, was issued in December 2021 by the Air Accident Investigation Authority of the Transport and Housing Bureau. ## Investigation and Technical Findings The investigation was conducted pursuant to Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and Cap. 448B, with the sole objective of accident and incident prevention rather than the apportionment of blame or liability. Assistance was provided by the Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile (BEA) as the State of Design and State of Manufacture, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom as the State of Manufacture of the engine, Rolls-Royce plc as the engine manufacturer, the Civil Aviation Department, and the aircraft operator. During initial troubleshooting, metal debris was reported in the jetpipe, and a boroscope inspection confirmed that one high-pressure turbine blade had fractured. The report notes that, based on safety actions already taken by the relevant parties, no safety recommendation was made in the final report. All times in the report are in Hong Kong Local Time, which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) + 8 hours.