Engine Failure on LOT Boeing 787 Forces Emergency Landing in China
A LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-9, en route from Tokyo to Warsaw, performed an emergency landing in Ürümqi, China, following a failure of a Rolls-Royce engine.
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A LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registration SP-LSA, operating as flight LO80 between Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT) and Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), diverted to Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) in western China after experiencing an engine failure.
The aircraft departed from the Japanese capital at 23:07 local time on August 13. The flight proceeded normally, following a trans-Siberian route through Chinese airspace. However, while at a cruising altitude of approximately 36,000 feet (11,000 meters), the flight crew detected a technical issue with one of the two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.
Following standard safety procedures, the pilots initiated a controlled descent. They decided to divert to the nearest suitable airport, landing without further complications in Ürümqi approximately 90 minutes after declaring the emergency. The Polish airline reported that passengers were attended to and rerouted on alternative flights to continue their journey to Warsaw.
A Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: “Due to a low oil pressure reading from one of the engines on flight LO-80, the precautionary decision was made to land at Urumqi, with both engines still running.”
“The issue which led to the low oil pressure reading was quickly identified and fixed. The aircraft has now returned to service.”, the company added.
In Summary
What happened? A LOT Boeing 787-9 (flight LO80) made an emergency landing.
Route: Tokyo (NRT) - Warsaw (WAW).
Landing site: Ürümqi (URC), China.
Cause: Technical failure in a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine.
Aircraft status: Remains grounded in China awaiting repairs.
A History of Issues for the Trent 1000
The aircraft involved, SP-LSA, was delivered to LOT Polish Airlines in March 2018 and is part of the carrier's long-haul fleet, which exclusively operates with Rolls-Royce engines. This incident brings the reliability record of the Trent 1000 engine back into focus.
This engine, developed specifically for the Boeing 787 program, has faced several technical challenges throughout its operational life. In 2016, stress corrosion cracking was discovered on the intermediate-pressure turbine (IPT) blades of aircraft operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA), triggering a global program of inspections and replacements.
The situation led aviation authorities, including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to issue airworthiness directives in 2018 that restricted ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) for 787s equipped with certain Trent 1000 variants. The ETOPS certification, which allows twin-engine jets to fly long routes over oceans or remote areas, was temporarily reduced from 330 to 140 minutes, impacting the operations of airlines such as Air New Zealand, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic.
Rolls-Royce has since worked on solutions, such as the Durability Enhancement Package, to redesign components and extend the engine's service life. Nevertheless, incidents like the one involving the LOT flight demonstrate that vigilance and maintenance of these power units remain a priority for Dreamliner operators. The aircraft SP-LSA remains in Ürümqi awaiting the arrival of a technical team and, most likely, a replacement engine before it can return to service.
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