London-bound Cathay flight with engine trouble makes emergency stop in Chongqing
Pilot grounds Boeing 777 jet in mainland China airport over oil pressure hitch
A London-bound Cathay Pacific flight was forced to divert yesterday morning after experiencing engine problems.
Flight CX255 diverted to Chongqing shortly after 4am on Saturday after taking-off from Hong Kong just after midnight. The flight’s 248 passengers arrived in the UK 12 hours later than scheduled at 6pm local time.
The 33-year-old Hong Kong-based business class passenger, travelling to London for a holiday, shared a detailed account of the situation with the Sunday Morning Post.
“We were just over Chengdu when the captain came on and said we were returning to Hong Kong due to an engine problem, and we were turning back immediately,” he said.
“Less than two minutes later, the captain came on again and said that the problem appeared to be worse than he thought and we would be landing in Chongqing.
“We circled around CKG [Chongqing] for about 20 to 30 minutes to dump fuel before we could land.
“Upon landing, we were surrounded by emergency vehicles. The captain explained that we had a problem with the oil pressure in the engine falling to very low levels.”
The traveller praised the captain for repeatedly reassuring passengers the diversion was “precautionary and there was no danger”. He said passengers were calm, good-natured and he heard no complaints.
On departure from Chongqing, Kelvin said there was no letter of apology or acknowledgement of the issue.
The airline said the flight landed safely in Chongqing and did not report any passenger or crew injuries.
In a statement, Cathay Pacific said: “The diversion, which was due to an oil pressure indication on the number two engine, was a precautionary measure in accordance with the standard operating procedures.”
A relief plane and extra crew was sent from Hong Kong to pick up the passengers.
The airline apologised for the inconvenience to passengers.
