An Air China flight from Chengdu to Singapore made an emergency landing this afternoon at Changi Airport after the Airbus A320neo’s left engine caught fire. This led to smoke entering the plane’s forward cargo hold and lavatory, prompting pilots to declare an emergency and request a priority landing.
Engine on fire
Air China flight CA403 from Chengdu to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) made an emergency landing earlier today after a hearth on its left engine resulted within the forward cargo hold and lavatory being stuffed with smoke.
The aircraft, an Airbus A320neo, was given priority landing after the pilots declared an emergency. In keeping with the airport, there have been 146 passengers and 9 crew members onboard, and all of them were safely evacuated and transferred to the terminal by bus.
The aircraft landed at around 16:15, and photos and videos circulating on social media show visible fire on the left engine and the cabin stuffed with heavy smoke, with passengers covering their mouths. In keeping with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), nine passengers have sustained minor injuries related to smoke inhalation.
The rationale for the engine fire isn’t yet known, but Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau will investigate the incident with the help of its Chinese counterpart.
Runway closed temporarily
The aircraft landed on Runway 3 of Changi Airport, and the airport emergency services were seen near the plane to extinguish the fireplace. Passengers were seen evacuating the aircraft through emergency slides because the plane stood on the runway.
Runway 3 was closed for operations for nearly three hours, because the A320 was disabled and will only be towed away at around 18:00 local time. In keeping with Changi Airport, a Scoot Airbus A320, performing flight TR635 from Hat Yai in Thailand to Singapore, was diverted to Batam, Indonesia, as a result of the incident. The runway was eventually reopened at 19:02.
Concerning the flight and aircraft
Air China flight CA403 is a scheduled day by day service between Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (TFU) and Singapore with a departure time of either 11:05 or 10:15, depending on the day of the week.
The airline deploys one among its Airbus A320neo aircraft for this flight, which takes roughly five hours to finish. The plane involved within the incident is registered as B-305J and is 4.75 years old.
Air China
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- CA/CCA
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Beijing Capital Airport, Beijing Daxing Airport, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
- Yr Founded:
- 1988
- Alliance:
- Star Alliance
- Airline Group:
- Air China Group
- CEO:
- Cai Jianjiang
- Country:
- China