Serious incident to the Airbus A220 registered HB-JCA operated by Swiss on 16/09/2019 en route [Investigation delegated to NTSB / United States]

Preliminary data based on the notification from the United States authorities:

On September 16, 2019, at about 1925 coordinated universal time (UTC), Swiss International Air Lines flight LX0358, an Airbus Canada A220-300, registration HB-JCA, equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW1524G turbofan engines, experienced a No. 1 (left) engine failure during climb, just prior to reaching cruise altitude FL350. The flight crew initiated quick reference handbook procedures, declared an emergency, and returned to Geneva Airport (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland where they made an uneventful landing. A post-flight examination of the engine revealed a hole in the low pressure compressor case and a separated low pressure compressor stage 1 rotor. There were no passenger or crew injuries reported. The regularly scheduled passenger flight was operating from GVA to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, United Kingdom.

In accordance with ICAO Annex 13, the National Transportation Safety Board accepted the delegation of this investigation from the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile and the Swiss Transportation Safety Board.