Hong Kong's investigators highlighted that it had recommended EASA to mandate Rolls-Royce to issue inspection instructions of the part.

Europe's aviation regulator on Thursday linked a recent engine fire on a Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 to a possible problem with the maintenance of its Rolls-Royce engines.

Hong Kong aviation investigators say an engine problem that caused Cathay Pacific to ground its entire fleet of Airbus A350 jets for inspection earlier this month could have escalated into “extensive damage.

While the initial emergency directive applied only to the Airbus A350-1000 engine, the latest AD was extended to all Airbus A350 engines.

A cleaning process leading to fuel hose degradation during refurbishment may have caused a recent Airbus A350 engine fire that triggered dozens of Cathay Pacific flight cancellations this month, the EU aviation regulator said Thursday.

An engine fire on a Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 earlier this month was traced back to a fuel leak, which investigators believe could have resulted in significant damage to the aircraft.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency will require one-time inspections of Airbus SE A350 engines after a midair fire on a Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. flight forced the airline to temporarily ground some aircraft.

A350 plane flown by Cathay Pacific (OTCPK:CPCAY) (OTCPK:CPCAF) on Sept. 2 was linked to a possible maintenance issue, European aviation safety authorities said Thursday. The engines were made by Rolls-Royce Holdings (OTCPK:RYCEY) (OTCPK:RYCEF).