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Singapore Airlines plane catches fire on Changi Airport runway; no injuries reported
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Passengers disembarking from flight SQ368 that caught fire on the runway at Changi Airport on June 27 morning. (Strait Times/Lee Bee Yee)
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Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane forced to return to Singapore due to an engine fault caught fire shortly after it landed at Changi Airport on Monday morning.
There were no injuries but travellers booked on other early morning flights faced some delays as Runway 2 where the plane landed remains closed.
Flight SQ368 with 222 passengers and 19 crew on board, departed Changi Airport Terminal 3 for Milan, Italy, at around 2.05am on Monday.
About three hours into the flight, the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft was forced to turn back after the pilot received an engine oil warning message.
One of the plane's passengers, Ms Lee Bee Yee, 43, said she detected a faint whiff of what smelled like gasoline about two or three hours into the flight.
"We were informed by the pilot that there was a leak, and that the plane would have to return to Changi Airport as it did not have enough fuel for the journey," said Ms Lee, who runs an e-commerce company.
According to Ms Lee, the plane landed back at Changi Airport at around 6.45am. Shortly after landing, the plane's right wing caught fire.
"The blaze was quite fierce and we waited for around two to three minutes before the fire engines arrived," she said.
"Surprisingly, all the passengers were quite calm. The SQ crew was very professional in calming everyone down."
SIA said the right engine of the plane caught fire after the plane touched down at Changi airport at 6.50am, with airport emergency services responding quickly to the fire.
It took less than 10 minutes to put out the blaze, Ms Lee said.
Passengers then disembarked through stairs and were transported to the terminal building by bus.
The Straits Times understands that SIA has made arrangements for a new aircraft and set of crew. The flight to Milan will depart at 9.30am on Monday.
In a notice handed out to all passengers, SIA apologised for the incident and said arrangements had been made for light refreshments while passengers wait for their flight.
An SIA spokesman said the airline will be cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigations.
