A Lufthansa Airbus A350-900, which diverted to Angola on December 3rd, remains stranded in the country as it awaits repairs and maintenance. The Munich-based aircraft was performing flight LH-575 from Cape Town in South Africa to Munich, Germany when it detected engine trouble and diverted to Angola.

The Lufthansa Airbus A350-900, bearing the registration D-AIXE, was en route with 286 passengers and 13 crew when the cockpit crew discovered a technical irregularity in an engine display for the left-hand engine and informed ground control. When the crew encountered the issue, the aircraft was cruising at 38,000 feet, some 10 miles from Luanda, Angola. After consultation, the team decided to shut down one engine for landing as a precaution and divert to Luanda with priority status. The crew initiated a descent to 20,000 feet, followed by a holding pattern to burn fuel, before safely landing on runway 23 roughly one hour after the onset of trouble.

What happened to the aircraft?

The widebody remains on the ground at Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD), the current international airport serving Angola's capital city Luanda. The airport's name comes from the date the Republic of Angola gained independence from Portugal and is soon to be replaced by the new Angola International Airport, which lies approximately 30 km (18.6 miles) east of Luanda.

The airport reported the Lufthansa crew declared an emergency code 7700 at 14:18, declaring a fire indication for the left-hand engine. The aircrew disabled the engine, then proceeded to complete the holding pattern and land with one engine. Airport emergency services solved the problem about 35 minutes later after landing. Lufthansa subsequently confirmed there had been no flameout of the engine, the controlled landing was precautionary, and that safety onboard was not compromised at any time.

Local news reports that Lufthansa sent a technical team down on the next scheduled service to the city, flight LH560 from Frankfurt, which arrived on Monday. The aircraft also picked up the remaining passengers that had not departed on earlier flights from Luanda via its return flight LH561. The regularly scheduled flight operates three times a week with an Airbus A330-300.

Subsequent flights have been undertaken by the other Airbus A350-900 series aircraft the carrier has based in Munich while D-AIXE receives maintenance.

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The passengers on the flight, which was delayed initially in taking off from Cape Town, were all accommodated overnight in Luanda, compliments of Lufthansa, and were looked after around the clock by airline staff. The airline confirmed when contacted by Simple Flying that all passengers aboard the flight were rebooked within 48 hours, with the first departing the same evening and the final passengers heading to their final destination via Frankfurt on Monday.

While a spokesperson for the airline indicated the aircraft is still in Luanda for a "technical check," it remains unclear how badly affected the powerplant is or whether it will require an engine change. The aircraft is just five years old. It was ordered by Lufthansa in September 2013 and delivered just shy of four years after taking its first flight in July 2017. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered twinjet has most recently been used to fly from Munich to Charlotte and Los Angeles in the United States.

Source: AeroTime, The Aviation Herald

• 

  Lufthansa

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  LH/DLH

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport

  Year Founded:

  1953

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  Airline Group:

  Lufthansa Group

  CEO:

  Carsten Spohr

  Country:

  Germany