Investigators seek missing debris from China Eastern A330

INVESTIGATORS examining the cause of a gaping hole in the engine of a China Eastern Airlines flight are yet to recover all the debris from the A330-200.

INVESTIGATORS examining the cause of a gaping hole in the left engine casing of a China Eastern Airlines flight are yet to recover all the debris from the A330-200.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau yesterday began its formal investigation into Sunday night’s incident on flight MU736 as it took off from Sydney to fly to Shanghai.

Although some debris was retrieved from the runway, more is believed to have been fallen off in the local area as the plane circled Sydney on its return to the airport.

Flight Radar map of China Eastern Airlines' flight MU736. Source: flightradar24.com

Damage to a China Eastern airlines’ A330 that suffered an “engine malfunction” after takeoff from Sydney. Picture: AAP/Paul Miller

In a notice on the investigation website, the ATSB warned any aircraft debris “was unsafe to handle and should be reported to local police”.

Debris from the plane will play a crucial role in the ATSB investigation centred on “the engine malfunction” of the Airbus aircraft.

The investigation will also look at aircraft maintenance records, engine damage and debris, and data from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.

A similar incident occurred just a month ago in Cairo, involving an Egypt Air A330-200.

The aircraft have Rolls Royce Trent 772 engines, which have previously experienced an issue with air intake cowls due to acoustic panel collapse, and cracking due to acoustic vibration.

In Sunday night’s incident, the pilot became aware of a fault with the left engine and radioed Air Traffic Control.

After dumping fuel, flight MU736 returned to land at Sydney Airport without incident.

Aviation expert Byron Bailey said the China Eastern Airlines’ pilot made the right decision.

“The aircraft could not have continued to Shanghai as one engine could only reach 20,000-feet and would therefore burn up fuel quickly,” said Mr Bailey.

Last year China Eastern carried 569,235 passengers to and from Australia, representing 24.3 per cent increase on the previous year.

China Eastern Airlines carried 24.3 per cent more passengers to and from Australia last year Picture: Supplied

Rolls Royce spokeswoman Erin Atan said they were working closely with China Eastern and “relevant partners to understand the cause of the issue”.

Australian Federation of Air Pilots safety and technical officer Marcus Diamond said it was likely Rolls Royce would need to issue a “fix” for the Trent 772 engine based on Sunday night’s incident, and the one in Cairo last month.

“They definitely will be looking at what they call certification,” said Mr Diamond.

“They’ll have to fix it, to provide assurances for other operators of this aircraft.”

Damage to the left engine of an Egypt Air A330 in Cairo on May 17, 2017. Picture: Simon/AvHerald.com

He said to some extent, the aviation industry was still learning how carbon fibre responded to different situations.

“Because they’re making aircraft lighter and lighter, with more and more light materials, they’re not as sturdy,” Mr Diamond said.

“They’re still built to certification standards and are able to lift more payload, but they’re not made of aluminium and rivets and we’re still learning how this sort of stuff responds.”

No-one on board the China Eastern flight was hurt in Sunday night’s incident, and all 221 passengers were rebooked on other flights to reach their destination.

Originally published as Investigators seek missing debris from China Eastern A330