An Asiana Airlines Airbus A350 on route from Incheon International Airport (ICN) to Singapore Changi Airport was forced to make an emergency landing in the Philippines.
The aircraft registration number HL7579 was operating as flight OZ-751 with 310 people on-board. It was cruising over the South China Sea at 32,000 feet when the crew needed to shut down the right-hand engine.
Asiana flight OZ-751 diverted to Manila
The aircraft immediately descended to 23,000 feet and diverted to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) where according to the Aviation Herald it made a safe landing on runway six around 80 minutes after declaring the emergency.
Asiana Airlines are reporting that the crew had to shut down one of the A350-900s two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines due to a problem with the engine's fuel system.
All passengers on the flight were taken to local hotels while a replacement aircraft was dispatched to take them on to Singapore. The replacement plane another of Asiana Airlines A350s registration number HL8362 arrived in Manila some 18 hours later to ferry the passengers on to Singapore.
Meanwhile, the affected aircraft is still on the ground in Manila more than 30 hours after arriving in the Philippines capital.
How long can the A350 fly on one engine?
Of course, nobody wants to be thirty-something thousand feet in the air and suffer an engine failure. The good news here, however, is that if it happens aboard an Airbus A350 you probably don’t have to worry.
When Airbus designed the A350 they made sure that in the event of an engine failure the jet could continue flying until a suitable airport to land could be found.
The A350 excelled at being able to fly on a single-engine and was granted permission to fly up to 370 minutes on one engine by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Known as Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards, or ETOPS, this is a rule that determines how far a twin-engine aircraft can be from a suitable airport in the event of an emergency. For the Airbus A350, ETOPS is rated at more than six hours, allowing the aircraft to fly any passenger route on the planet.
The maximum time the A350 can fly on a single-engine is six hours and ten minutes which is equivalent to 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km).
Look out Korean Air
In other Asiana Airlines related news, Korea’s number two airline behind national flag carrier Korean Air is about to receive a rich investor while public and government support is waning for Korea Air following numerous scandals.
According to Forbes, local media in Korea is reporting that Hyundai Development and Mirae Asset Daewoo are likely to be selected to take a controlling interest in the airline following the sale of Kumho’s 31% stake.
Having been saddled with huge debts Asiana Airlines has not been able to keep up with other airlines in the region, but that could be about to change if the Hyundai led consortium’s bid is selected.
We will keep you updated on Asiana Airline's developments and in the meantime, if you happened to be on flight OZ-751 we would love to hear about your experience in the comments section.