Singapore Airlines plane hit by turbulence in May resumes flights to Shanghai
The Singapore Airlines (SIA) aircraft that was hit by severe turbulence en route to Singapore from London’s Heathrow Airport in May has returned to service.
An SIA spokesperson told The Straits Times that the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft resumed operations as SQ830, and served the Singapore-Shanghai route on July 27.
“The aircraft completed maintenance and repair works that were monitored by the relevant authorities in Singapore,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the aircraft also “met the safety requirements set by the aircraft manufacturer, passed stringent safety checks by SIA’s engineering and flight operations teams, and successfully completed a functional check flight before its return to service”.
A check of the Changi Airport website showed that the plane departed for Shanghai on the morning of July 27 on its first commercial flight after the severe turbulence.
ST earlier reported that the aircraft on July 23 completed a functional check flight – its first flight since returning to Singapore from Bangkok on May 26.
In the May 21 incident, one passenger died and dozens were injured when the plane experienced “sudden extreme turbulence” over the Irrawaddy Basin about 10 hours after departing from London.
The pilot declared a medical emergency and landed at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3.45pm (4.45pm Singapore time).
The 211 passengers on Flight SQ321 included 41 Singaporeans, with the remaining 170 from countries such as Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Britain. There were 18 crew members on board.
