People quickly took to social media to share videos of the scene, and let me tell you, it looked intense. You could see passengers sliding down emergency chutes on the left side of the plane, which, incidentally, is the same side where the fire broke out.
Oh, and another video showed the cabin filled with smoke. Definitely not your everyday landing, huh?
The flight, which was coming in from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in China, was actually making its first trip of the day. About 12 minutes before landing, the plane signaled an emergency. Yep, they used code 7700, which basically means, "Houston, we have a problem."
Changi Airport quickly issued a statement, saying that everyone got off the plane safely, and they were able to put out the fire. But here's the kicker: the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced that they had to close one of the runways temporarily, which could mess up other flights.
In a later update, CAAS revealed that nine out of 149 passengers suffered minor injuries, mostly from smoke inhalation and small cuts and scrapes during the evacuation. But, hey, it could have been much worse.
They managed to tow away the disabled plane by around 6 PM and got the runway reopened about an hour later. One plane even had to be diverted to Batam, Indonesia, while they sorted everything out.
As for what happens next? Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau is on the case. The plane is still sitting at Changi Airport as we speak.
A little more background on the plane itself: it was delivered to Air China back in December 2018, and it's actually leased from the Bank of Communications Financial Leasing. Since it's been in service, it has flown more than 9,000 hours and completed nearly 4,000 flight cycles as of this past June.
🚨 Breaking News: Air China Flight #CA403 experienced cabin smoke before landing in #Singapore. Safely touched down at 16:14 Beijing time, emergency evacuation conducted. Cause under investigation. pic.twitter.com/u8AYMzNnKg
— 周子愉 Fausto Chou (@FaustoChou) September 10, 2023
Air China flight CA403, an Airbus A320neo, was evacuated on runway 20L after landing at Singapore-Changi International Airport (SIN) following an engine fire.pic.twitter.com/CKTY476FlKhttps://t.co/cyjFn3te1x
— Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) September 10, 2023
