Serious SG51 SIA.EX 222 pax mass escaped @ Changi Air port from BURT SQ368! HUAT!

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...e/2907544.html


SIA flight catches fire while making emergency landing in Singapore
Posted 27 Jun 2016 08:03 Updated 27 Jun 2016 09:16
PHOTOS

ENLARGECAPTION*
1352 Email More
SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight to Milan caught fire while making an emergency landing in Singapore, but all 222 passengers and 19 crew on board were safely evacuated with no injuries.

Flight SQ368 departed Changi Airport at 2.05am on Monday (Jun 27). About two-and-a-half hours into the flight, the flight was forced to turn back to Singapore due to a fuel leak, passengers onboard the flight told Channel NewsAsia.



SIA said there was an engine oil warning message, after which the pilots decided to turn back to Singapore.

After the plane touched down at Changi Airport at around 6.50am, the aircraft's right engine caught fire, SIA said. The fire was put out by airport emergency services.

ADVERTISING

Ms Lee Bee Yee, who was onboard the flight with her husband, told Channel NewsAsia the plane was leaking fuel about three hours after taking off from Singapore. She could smell gasoline, she said.

“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.

“We were sleeping and didn’t think too much about it,” she added.

After the plane landed in Singapore at about 7am, the passengers cheered and clapped. Then, there was a spark and there were “huge flames” from the right side of the plane, she said.


Mrs Mamta Jain, whose husband Amit Jain was onboard the flight, told Channel NewsAsia that the right wing of the plane burst into flames after the plane landed.

"When they landed, he said the engine was on fire and he could see flames. They were all inside the plane and they could see the right wing burning," she said.

Ms Lee said she and the other passengers were frightened. “I stood up, ready to run. But the announcement said to stay calm and to stay in your seats. Passengers were frightened, (but there was) no shouting and everyone was seated.”



Passengers on board SQ368 were frightened but calm, according to passenger Lee Bee Yee. (Photo: Lee Bee Yee)*
It was an agonising five-minute wait for the fire engine and fire fighters to put out the fire, she said. When the fire fighters arrived, they sprayed foam and water on the plane and the fire was put out. It took about five to 10 minutes to put out the fire, she said.




wing of SQ368 after the fire was put out. (Photo: Lee Bee Yee)
All 222 passengers and 19 crew onboard the flight were safely evacuated, SIA said. Passengers disembarked the plane using stairs and were taken to the terminal building by bus. Passengers will be transferred to another aircraft which is expected to depart for Milan later on Monday, SIA said.*



Passengers evacuating from the plane. (Photo: Lee Bee Yee)
Ms Lee told Channel NewsAsia that passengers were given the option to defer their flight or to take an alternative flight. Those who chose to take the alternative flight boarded another plane at about 8am, and those who chose not to fly would be put up at a hotel arranged by SIA.

Ms Lee said she decided to defer her flight, and to go home and “hug her kids”. SIA’s handling of the whole process was “very smooth, very good”, she added.

The airline said it will be cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigations.

- CNA/cy


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.