SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane carrying 272 passengers and 12 crew struck an aerobridge at Changi Airport on Tuesday (Sep 18).

Singapore Airlines flight SQ178 was scheduled to depart Singapore for Ho Chi Minh City at 9.45am.



The flight was delayed after the forward fuselage of the Airbus A330-300 struck the rear aerobridge during pushback at Changi Airport, an SIA spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia.

“All passengers and crew disembarked normally via the forward aerobridge. Arrangements were made for passengers to be accommodated on another aircraft to Ho Chi Minh City," the spokesperson said.

The damage to the aircraft is currently being assessed and investigations will be carried out to determine how the incident occurred, the spokesperson added.

As a result of the delay, the flight departed Singapore at 12pm and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at about 12.45pm time – an hour and 55 minutes behind schedule.



A passenger on the flight who asked to be identified only as Mr Kok told Channel NewsAsia that he was “quite impressed” by SIA’s service recovery after the aerobridge incident.

Several in-flight announcements were made to inform passengers of the situation, Mr Kok said. After the passengers disembarked, they were escorted to another gate and provided with refreshments.

“I was quite impressed that the station manager and quite a few people were deployed to help the situation. The person-in-charge communicated with us every 10 to 15 minutes, and they kept apologising.

“Even when we went back to the plane, they were still apologising. I think I heard more than 10 apologies … The first officer and pilot also apologised and everybody down the line also apologised. The service recovery was done well,” he added.​​​​​

In a statement on Wednesday, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said that the aerobridge was slightly damaged in the incident, but has since been repaired.

It also said that ground personnel provided assistance to the affected passengers.

"CAG will work with the relevant parties on the investigations," it added.

Tuesday’s incident was the latest in a string of woes for Singapore’s national carrier.

Earlier this month, passengers on an SIA flight were stranded at Mumbai airport for more than eight hours after a bomb threat was made. A week later on Sep 15, flight SQ247 from Melbourne to Wellington was cancelled after the pilot failed an alcohol test.

In June, SIA said it was looking into claims that cabin crew had been rude to passengers on a flight to India that had been delayed due to "technical issues on the ground". Later that month, an SIA flight from Singapore to Melbourne was delayed after an evacuation slide was “unexpectedly deployed”.

In May, a flight from Singapore to Kolkata was stuck on the runway for 20 minutes after landing in India due to a hydraulic leak.