Source: Simon Hradecky | www.avherald.com

A Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300, registration B-KPQ performing flight CX-865D from Vancouver,BC (Canada) to Hong Kong (China) with no passengers and 18 crew, had just levelled off at FL320 after departure from Vancouver when the crew detected smoke in cockpit and cabin, declared emergency and returned the aircraft to Vancouver. The aircraft dumped 84 tons of fuel and performed a safe landing 11 tons over maximum landing weight about 45 minutes after departure.

The aircraft had arrived in Vancouver on Jan 30th 2020 as flight CX-865 from New York JFK. The aircraft was to position onwards to Hong Kong, returned to Vancouver however. Another attempt to position to Hong Kong on Feb 8th also prompted the crew to return to Vancouver. The aircraft finally departed for and reached Hong Kong on Feb 14th 2020.

The Canadian TSB reported: “Maintenance conducted an overweight landing inspection with no faults found. They verified that the smoke was in fact oil fumes/haze caused by an oil contaminated air conditioning system. They traced the origin of the oil source to the aircraft’s APU. Numerous components of the air conditioning system were replaced and the ducting was removed and cleaned. The APU was deactivated for the return flight to VHHH and the aircraft has returned to service.”