12-11-2024 (SINGAPORE) A Singapore Airlines flight destined for South Korea had to turn back to Changi Airport after experiencing an air conditioning component failure approximately two hours after takeoff.
Passengers on board flight SQ600, scheduled to fly from Changi Airport to Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday (January 10), reported issues related to cabin pressure, according to readers of Zaobao.
The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, which is only 0.3 years old, departed at 8:40 a.m. Singapore time, heading towards South Korea through the South China Sea. Approximately 1 hour and 18 minutes after takeoff, the flight began descending from its cruising altitude of 38,800 feet. The aircraft’s speed at the time was 567 miles per hour. Subsequently, the plane continued descending and made a turn back towards Singapore.
Singapore Airlines clarified that the flight returned to Singapore nearly two hours after takeoff due to “technical reasons” and safely landed in Singapore at 12:40 p.m. Singapore time. The airline later specified that the technical issue was related to a malfunction of the air conditioning component.
Singapore Airlines explained that, as per standard procedures, the pilots needed to descend to a lower altitude before attempting to reset the air conditioning components. Some passengers may have noticed changes in cabin pressure during this process. The airline emphasized that there was no rapid decompression of the aircraft.
Singapore Airlines provided refreshments to passengers awaiting the replacement aircraft, which took off at 2:30 p.m. Singapore time and arrived in Seoul at 9:57 p.m. Korean time (8:57 p.m. Singapore time).
The airline expressed apologies to affected customers for the inconvenience caused by the incident.
