An HK Express flight suffered an inflight engine shutdown on July 26th, 2019. Passengers on an HK Express flight from Hong Kong to Phuket had to divert to Da Nang, Vietnam after an engine shut down mid-flight. Reportedly, this shut-down was induced as the crew initiated the shutdown procedures before diverting to the Vietnamese airport.

An HK Express Airbus A321 diverted to Da Nang, Vietnam after an inflight engine shutdown. Photo: HK Express

The incident

On July 26, 2019, HK Express flight UO-763 took off from Hong Kong en route to Phuket. Partway through flight, as the aircraft approached Vietnam, there seemed to be some problem. According to the Aviation Herald, the crew had to shut down an engine. Consequently, the aircraft drifted to a lower altitude. Then, the crew diverted to Da Nang, Vietnam.

HK Express A321
An HK Express A321. Photo: Alec Wilson/Wikimedia Commons

The reason for the inflight shutdown is currently unclear. Nor is it known what happened with the passengers on the flight. UO-764, the return flight from Phuket to Hong Kong, did not operate.

The plane

The plane in question was an Airbus A321-200. Airfleets indicates that the aircraft is only 1.8 years old. This makes the bird relatively new. Incidents with new aircraft are uncommon, however, they can still occur. Registered as B-LEH, the Airbus A321 seats up to 230 passengers in an all-economy configuration. IAE V2533 engines powered this Airbus A321. This aircraft is not owned by HK Express, rather they are leasing the plane.

HK Express fleet

HK Express, a Hong Kong-based low-cost carrier, solely operates Airbus A320 family aircraft. This includes the larger Airbus A321 and its updated cousin the Airbus A320neo. The Airbus A320neo seats 188 passengers in an all-economy configuration.

HK Express
HK Express operates Airbus A320neo aircraft in conjunction with A321s. Photo: N509FZ via Wikimedia Commons

Current situation at HK Express

Cathay Pacific recently acquired HK Express. However, this flight was operated as an HK Express flight. This deal was in the works for some time and did not come as a shock. As of now, HK Express seems to operate separately from Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon.

Cathay Pacific recently acquired the low-cost carrier. Photo: Cathay Pacific

Overall

No injuries or fatalities were reported as a result of this incident. Unfortunately for passengers, it seems that their vacation plans may have taken a bit of an unfortunate turn. The aircraft seems to remain on the ground in Vietnam after this incident.

Inflight engine shutdowns are a rare occurrence. It is unclear exactly why the crew decided to shutdown the engine. Despite the shutdown of one engine, the aircraft still landed safely in Da Nang. HK Express has not released a statement in regards to this incident.

Were you on this flight? Let us know in the comments!