THE passengers and crew on board a Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane en route to Milan, Italy had a close call when the aircraft’s engine caught fire early this morning within minutes of landing at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
According to The Straits Times, the plane was forced to turn back to Singapore due to an emergency but the 222 passengers and 19 crew on board Flight SQ368 were evacuated safely with no reported injuries.
The Boeing 777-300ER returned to the airport after experiencing engine problems between two and three hours after its 2.05am departure from Terminal 3 on Monday.
The passengers were either put on other fights several hours after the incident or given overnight accommodation at a nearby hotel by the airline.
The fire led to delays of several other flights and the temporary closure of Runway 2.
Forty-three-year-old Lee Bee Yee told local media that the aircraft’s pilots informed the passengers of an oil leak.
The wing was left badly damaged after the fire. Image via Lee Bee Yee
“The pilot said he was going to turn back because the engine is leaking oil on the right side. The captain said that they cannot turn on that side of the engine or else the plane will be vibrating. And they can’t fly like this to Milan… that’s why they turned back,” she said, as quoted by Channel News Asia.
“We were sleeping and didn’t think too much about it,” she added.
She said the plane’s right wing burst into flames after it touched down at Changi airport at around 6.45am.
It took several minutes for the airport’s emergency response team to arrive at the plane and douse the fire.
Passengers were evacuated safely with no injuries reported. Image via Lee Bee Yee
Lee, who decided to defer her flight, commended the airline’s “very smooth, very good” handling of the situation.
A probe into the incident is currently underway and the airline had pledged to provide full cooperation to the authorities.
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