Singapore Airlines plane catches fire after landing
The right engine of a Singapore Airlines aircraft caught fire after landing at Changi Airport on Monday morning (27 June), SIA told Yahoo Singapore in a statement.
The Milan-bound flight SQ368, which was forced to turn back following an engine oil warning message, touched down at around 6:50 am.
The fire, which was put out by firefighters from the airport emergency services, had 222 passengers and 19 crew on board, SIA said. All passengers and crew have safely disembarked from the Boeing 777-300ER. There are no reports of injuries.
“Passengers disembarked through stairs and were transported to the terminal building by bus. Passengers will be transferred to another aircraft which is expected to depart for Milan later today.”
In a statement issued on Monday night, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said that it will be investigating to determine the causes of the incident while the Ministry of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau will be conducting an independent investigation.
In a separate statement, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said the aircraft departed at about 2:25 am and returned to Changi Airport after its engine caught fire.
“When the aircraft landed at Changi Airport Runway 2, the engine caught fire but it was extinguished within minutes by the Airport Emergency Service team which was already on standby,” CAG said.
The aircraft has since been towed and a clean-up of the affected runway is underway, they added.
According to media reports, the pilot announced to passengers regarding a problem with the engine only two hours into the flight.
A passenger, who had posted a video showing the plane’s wing ablaze, described the incident on Facebook as a “near death” experience, adding that the plane was “leaking oil” for three hours before the engine “burst into flames”.
“It was a heart-wrenching five minutes! Waiting for the fire engine and fire fighters to put out the fire!,” a post uploaded on premiummall.sg’s Facebook page said.
The passenger, who was still on the plane when posting the video, said that firefighters had put out the fire using foam and water.
“I thank God I am alive! I’m going home to hug my kids…”
Later in the day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote about the incident on his Facebook page, saying that SIA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) are investigating the cause, and will get to the “bottom of the matter”.
