Release #3, 15.45 Hong Kong Time, 30 July 2015

Cathay Pacific Airways confirms that passengers who were onboard Flight CX884 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles on 29 July, which made a precautionary diversion to Shemya military airport in the Aleutians Island near Alaska, are now on their way to their intended destination.

The aircraft operating CX884, a Boeing 777-300ER, was declared serviceable after the technical issue that resulted in smoke being detected in the cockpit area of the aircraft was addressed. The flight departed from Shemya with all 276 passengers and 18 crew, arriving in Anchorage at 06:11 Hong Kong time (14:11 local time) today.

Meanwhile, the airline operated a special flight, CX884D, to Anchorage from Hong Kong. Passengers of CX884 were transferred onto this relief flight and departed for Los Angeles at 14:48 Hong Kong time (22:48 local time). They are expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 19:28 Hong Kong time (04:28 local time)

Cathay Pacific flew a team of ground staff from Vancouver to Anchorage to attend to passengers, while a team will greet them on arrival in Los Angeles to offer any necessary assistance.

Cathay Pacific Director Service Delivery James Ginns said: “Once again, we send our sincere apologies to the passengers of Flight CX884. We thank them for their patience and understanding during our efforts to fly them to their intended destination. Safety will always remain our top priority and we will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of this incident.”

The airline said that a preliminary inspection indicates that an equipment cooling fan situated below the cabin floor near the forward cargo compartment had failed. Smoke was detected largely around the cockpit area as a result of this failure which led the Captain to make the precautionary diversion.