The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD), warning operators about a risk of the Airbus A350 hydraulic engine driven pump (EDP) overheating and causing a fire. EASA issued the AD because the A350’s hydraulic fluid cooling system is located in the fuel tanks. An Airbus spokeswoman said the A350 fleet is still flying normally, despite the AD, which took effect Aug. 24 affecting all A350s.

EASA issues Emergency Airworthiness Directive for A359s due to possible fuel/air ignition in fuel tanks

On Aug 24th 2017 The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) released Emergency Aiworthiness Directive (EAD) 2017-0154-E for all Airbus A350-941 aircraft stating:

In the A350 design, the hydraulic fluid cooling system is located in the fuel tanks. Recently, an overheat failure mode of the the A350 hydraulic Engine Driven Pump (EDP) has been found. Such EDP failure may cause a fast temperature rise of the hydraulic fluid.

This condition, if not detected and corrected, combined with an inoperative Fuel Tank Inerting System (FTIS), could lead to an uncontrolled overheat of the hydraulic fluid, possibly resulting in ignition of the fuel-air mixture in the affected fuel tank.

Airbus have released an updated Master Minimum Equipment List "that incorporates restrictions to avoid an uncontrolled overheat of the hydraulic system". Several items have changed to "NO GO".

The new dispatch requirements and MEL requirements have to be implemented on the next flight.

The EASA advises that this EAD is an interim measure, additional Airworthiness Directives may follow.

TWA Flight 800

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For the 1964 crash of a TWA Boeing 707 in Rome, Italy, see TWA Flight 800 (1964).
TWA Flight 800
TWA800reconstruction.jpg
The reconstructed wreckage of TWA 800, stored by the NTSB, May 1997
Accident summary
DateJuly 17, 1996 (1996-07-17)
SummaryFuel tank explosion
SiteMoriches Inlet
near East Moriches, New York
Passengers212
Crew18
Fatalities230 (all)
Survivors0
Aircraft typeBoeing 747-131
OperatorTrans World Airlines
RegistrationN93119
Flight originJohn F. Kennedy Int'l Airport
New York City
StopoverParis-Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris
DestinationLeonardo da Vinci Airport
Rome
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA 800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome, with a stopover in Paris.[1]:1 All 230 people on board perished in the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. territory. Accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the following morning[1]:313 amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash.[2][3][4] Consequently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated a parallel criminal investigation.[5] Sixteen months later, the FBI announced that no evidence had been found of a criminal act and closed its active investigation.[6]
The four-year NTSB investigation concluded with the approval of the Aircraft Accident Report on August 23, 2000, ending the most extensive, complex, and costly air disaster investigation in U.S. history.[7][8] The report's conclusion was that the probable cause of the accident was an explosion of flammable fuel/air vapors in a fuel tank, and although it could not be determined with certainty, the most likely cause of the explosion was a short circuit.[1]:xvi Problems with the aircraft's wiring were found, including evidence of arcing in the Fuel Quantity Indication System (FQIS), a system that had been the ignition source in a fuel tank explosion that had previously destroyed another 747. The FQIS on Flight 800 is known to have been malfunctioning; the captain remarked on what he called "crazy" readings from the system approximately two minutes and thirty seconds before the aircraft exploded. As a result of the investigation, new requirements were developed for aircraft to prevent future fuel tank explosions.[9]
TWA Flight