On the morning of June 27, a Singapore Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Changi Airport, where the plane’s right engine caught fire after it touched down. SQ368 had been en route to Milan when it was forced to turn around due to an engine oil problem.
Jeremy Leung, a 16-year-old from Hong Kong (and former intern at Coconuts Hong Kong), was sitting in the aircraft’s seat 46G. He recounts his terrifying experience below:
“I was beginning to fall asleep on the late flight when I picked up the strong scent of jet fuel inside the cabin. However, I ignored it, as it was not particularly pungent and did not irritate me.
Approximately an hour and a half later, I woke up to an announcement from the pilot, who said that the “fumes” had begun to clear. He added that the crew had contacted Malaysian and Thai aviation authorities, and that the plane might possibly return to Singapore.
Since I had been asleep, I had no idea why we would turn back, and didn’t think too much about it. Another half an hour later, the captain made a second announcement, confirming that the air inside the cabin was now clear, but the damage to the right engine had caused a fuel leak, meaning a return to Singapore was now mandatory.
In the midst of preparing for landing, the captain reassured the passengers that ‘everything is under control’ and that the plane would be parked at an ‘outer gateway close to Terminal 2’, where the passengers would disembark.”
“From what I remember, the plane landed rather gently. However, seconds later, I heard a bump. At first, I thought it was the sound of the aircraft’s wheels coming into contact with the ground. I soon heard gasps from passengers sitting on the right side of the plane and saw bright orange flames outside the windows.
Shortly after the fire started, the aircraft came to a halt and passengers began to panic. Some passengers opened the luggage compartment to retrieve their baggage and demanded an immediate evacuation. I would say it took about five minutes before firefighters managed to put out the fire. Once the aircraft was covered in white foam, passengers began to calm down and return to their seats.
After the fire was extinguished, the captain informed us that the Fire Department and Air Traffic Control were telling him not to allow passengers to disembark the aircraft directly onto the runway. However, after a few minutes, we were told that one door at the front of the plane was open, and passengers would be able to leave in order of First, Business, and Economy class.”
“Eventually, all 222 passengers were taken by buses to Terminal 3 to await a new flight at gate A12.”
Text from Coconuts HK.
[Editor’s note: The Changi Airport Group has since revealed the timeline of events (down to the exact minute), claiming that passengers onboard the flight were probably too tense to keep track of the time accurately. So here goes — the firefighters arrived two minutes after the plane landed, and extinguished the flames within three minutes. Passengers then disembarked 16 minutes later. That’s the efficiency of Singapore for you.]
