The shutdown of an engine that forced a Dragonair jet to make an emergency return to Beijing was caused by the partial separation of a blade on the engine fan, the airline said yesterday.
Hong Kong-bound flight KA991 had to turn back just 20 minutes after takeoff at 1.47pm on Sunday when an engine problem caused smoke to fill the cabin and prompted oxygen masks to drop.
The airline said a bang the passengers heard would 'almost certainly be the result of the fan blade being released and passing through the engine' of the Airbus A330.
Dragonair said there was no 'shred of evidence' to suggest the incident was caused by a screwdriver or other object left in the engine, as some reports had speculated.
It said inspection showed all debris was contained and the engine systems responded as designed.
A full investigation into the 'extremely unlikely' failure could take several weeks, it said.