China Eastern flight’s near-disaster is second Airbus A332 incident in a month and 26th this year

EgyptAir aborted take-off in May due to similar hole-in-engine problem. There have been 26 incidents involving same plane model so far this year

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An Egypt Air Airbus A330-200 with 211 people on board had to abort take-off in May because of a similar problem with its left-side engine. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:30pm, 12 Jun 2017Updated: 6:49pm, 12 Jun 2017

The engine trouble that caused a China Eastern Airlines flight to make an emergency landing in Australia on Sunday came after a similar incident involving the same type of Airbus just four weeks ago.

In May, an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to Beijing with 211 people on board aborted its take-off because of similar damage to its engine. It was the same Airbus A330-200 jet airliner – also known as the A332 – with the same Trent 772 engine made by Rolls-Royce, that was involved in the China Eastern incident.

The aircraft was safely brought to a halt and passengers disembarked normally, according to the Aviation Herald website.

Photos of the incident showing a huge hole torn in the engine’s cowling, or cover, are similar to those taken of the China Eastern plane. Egyptian media reports said the aircraft had experienced engine failure.

China Eastern Airlines flight MU736 had to make an emergency landing 40 minutes after take-off because of damage to its left-side engine. Photo: Handout

On Sunday, China Eastern Airlines flight MU736 from Sydney to Shanghai had to make an emergency landing 40 minutes after take-off. The crew shut down the left-side engine and reported the damage.