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By Lisa Barrington and Tim Hepher
(Reuters) -Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said on Tuesday it had inspected its entire Airbus A350 fleet after the in-flight failure of an engine part and found 15 aircraft with components that needed replacement.
A person familiar with the matter said a leak in a fuel system appeared to have caused a brief engine fire that was quickly extinguished by the crew of the Zurich-bound A350. There were no immediate signs that Monday's incident would trigger significant regulatory action involving the A350 fleet, the person added.
The A350-1000 returned to Hong Kong just over an hour after take-off.
Aviation Herald, an air safety publication, reported the jet had turned back after a cockpit alert warning of a fire in one of its two Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines.
After carrying out routine checks and discharging a fire bottle, the crew dumped fuel and returned to base, it said.
The incident caused a sharp drop in the shares of British engine maker Rolls-Royce on Monday, but they bounced back on Tuesday as concerns over implications for the global fleet eased and some analysts called the sell-off overdone.
Rolls shares rose 2.4% and were among the top gainers on London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index.
Cathay Pacific said three of the 48 Rolls-Royce-powered planes it had inspected had gone through successful repairs and all were expected to resume operation by Saturday.
It cancelled at least 34 round-trip flights due to the disruption to its fleet.
Data from flight tracking service FlightRadar24 showed other major operators of the A350-1000 and the smaller, more popular A350-900, still flying their aircraft on Tuesday.
Rolls-Royce has not yet issued a directive to airlines regarding possible inspections, according to an industry source who was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.
Such a step is typically the first sign of an official instruction from regulators, though they can act independently.
Japan Airlines (JAL), which has five A350-1000s, said it had asked Rolls-Royce for more information and had not stopped A350 flights in the meantime.
"If the engine manufacturer takes any further action, we will respond accordingly," a JAL spokesperson said.
Cathay Pacific said it had secured spare parts for the components that needed to be replaced. Rolls-Royce said the replacement could take place while the engine remained on-wing.
The engine manufacturer said it was committed to working closely with Cathay Pacific, Airbus and investigators in Hong Kong, whose safety agency confirmed it had launched a probe.