Singapore Airlines Flight Suffers Engine Failure en Route to Shanghai -- Update

By Gaurav Raghuvanshi 

SINGAPORE--The temporary loss of power in both engines of a barely weeks-old Airbus Group N.V. jet flown by Singapore Airlines Ltd. Saturday underscores the significance of pilot training, aviation experts said.

Singapore Airlines said Wednesday that the incident occurred Saturday when flight SQ836 en route to Shanghai encountered bad weather at an altitude of 39,000 feet, about three and a half hours after departure from Singapore.

"Both engines experienced a temporary loss of power and the pilots followed operational procedures to restore normal operation of the engines," it said.

"It is uncommon to have power loss in both engines. You don't hear about it too often," said Greg Waldron, the Asia managing editor of Flightglobal, an industry publication. "Fortunately, pilots are trained to deal with it in a routine manner and this incident only highlights the importance of pilot training."

Aviation safety, and pilot training in particular, has been under scrutiny in Asia recently, following a series of safety problems. These include an Asiana Airlines Inc. plane that skidded off a runway after landing in Hiroshima, Japan, last month; a TransAsia Airways Corp. flight that crashed in a river in Taipei after hitting a highway overpass in February; and the Dec. 28 crash of an AirAsia plane in the Java Sea that killed all 162 on board.

The Singapore Airlines aircraft, an Airbus A330-300 twin engine jet, descended 13,000 feet before engine power returned, according to flight-data tracking website Flightradar24. Singapore Airlines didn't confirm the loss of altitude.

The aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines on March 30, according to Ascend Flightglobal Consultancy, which keeps records of planes. The jet's Trent 700 engines were manufactured by Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC.

Singapore Airlines said the flight continued to Shanghai and touched down uneventfully at 10:56pm local time. There were 182 passengers and 12 crew on board.

The engines were "thoroughly inspected and tested" upon arrival in Shanghai and no anomalies were detected, Singapore Airlines said, adding that it is reviewing the incident with Rolls-Royce and Airbus. The same aircraft returned to Singapore with passengers and was inspected again upon arrival in Singapore. The plane hasn't been grounded, Singapore Airlines said.

Both Airbus and Rolls-Royce said they were aware of the incident and were assisting Singapore Airlines with its investigation into likely causes.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at [e-mail]

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