French investigators are seeking assistance to locate engine parts which they believe fell from an Airbus A220-300 as it passed over the east of the country last month. The Swiss aircraft had been operating the LX348 service to London Heathrow from Geneva on 25 July. While climbing through 32,000ft the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure of its left-hand Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine. The crew shut down the powerplant, says French investigation authority BEA, and diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Inspection of the aircraft subsequently determined that the stage one rotor of its low-pressure compressor was missing. US investigators have taken the lead on the inquiry. But BEA is putting out a public call for witnesses in an effort to find missing parts of the engine which, it say, may have fallen into a forest area near Perrigny-sur-Armancon, some 190km south-east of Paris.

Source: FlightGlobal

Following a senior management shake-up that saw its chief executive and commercial chief step down, Cathay Pacific has also appointed a new head of its low-cost subsidiary HK Express. Cathay veteran Mandy Ng, who has been with the operator for 17 years, takes over as HK Express chief executive with immediate effect, following the departure of Ronald Lam to the post of Cathay chief customer and commercial officer. Ng began her career at Cathay as a management trainee in 1999, before working in planning, revenue and sales departments within the airline. She was most recently general manager of business development at Swire Pacific. Swire Group wholly owns Cathay Pacific. Former Cathay chief Rupert Hogg and former customer and commercial chief Paul Loo disclosed their resignation on 16 August, amid mounting scrutiny of the airline from China. Hogg is succeeded by Augustus Tang, who has been with the Swire Group since 1982 and was most recently chief executive of Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO), a post he held since November 2008.

Source: FlightGlobal

Sao Paulo-based Ocean Air Linhas Aereas, which operated as Avianca Brasil, will leave the Star Alliance network of airlines effective 1 September, following several months of bankruptcy proceedings and the withdrawal of its air operations certificate by regulators in Brazil. Star Alliance chief executive Jeffrey Goh says in the announcement on 19 August that the exit of Avianca Brasil "in no way affects the membership of Avianca SA, our valued member based in Bogota, Colombia". Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2018. Brazil's civil aviation regulator ANAC grounded the airline in May over "safety concerns" and cancelled the carrier's certificate in June.

Source: FlightGlobal