'Leaky' A380 door focus of probe in SIA emergency landing

A malfunctioning door is the focus of an investigation into why a Singapore Airlines Airbus 380 superjumbo was forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan, the carrier said on Wednesday.

Nearly 500 passengers arrived in Singapore on Tuesday in a A380 relief jet after their original flight from London to Singapore was forced to land in capital Baku due to a loss in cabin pressure.

"The root cause of the incident is being investigated and a team of specialists from Airbus will be assisting," an airline spokesman said in a statement.

"We are focusing on a door on the main deck that appears to have suffered a leak, leading to the change in cabin pressure," he said.

"A replacement door will be fitted to the aircraft in Baku before it returns to Singapore for a more thorough inspection."

Passengers had spoken of noise coming from one door as the aircraft came in to land in the central Asian republic.

The A380 is the world's largest commercial aircraft and Singapore Airlines was its debut customer in 2007.

Sean Lee, the Asia spokesman for Airbus, told AFP on Wednesday that the European manufacturer is "participating fully in the investigation to determine the cause of this incident".

"I confirm that we have a team of specialists travelling to Baku. At this time we cannot confirm the root cause of the incident," he said.

There are 119 Airbus A380s in operation globally, according to latest data from the company.

Singapore Airlines currently has a fleet of 19 A380s, with five others on order. It uses the planes for flights from Singapore to various destinations including Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London and Los Angeles.

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SIA passengers in S'pore after emergency flight landing in Azerbaijan

Singapore Airlines will offer a refund to passengers who were on board flight SQ317 from London to Singapore. The flight had to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan on Monday after it suffered a loss of cabin pressure.

The 467 passengers arrived in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon.

Mohinderjeet Kaur, whose daughter had texted on the flight when the emergency happened, said: "We first got to know about this around 2am, that there was going to be an emergency landing. We had not slept since then, worrying and traumatised by the whole thing that's happened."

Rajween Kaur, who was on the flight, said: "I'm glad to be home. I wasn't feeling well so they really took care of me on the way back. So I'm really grateful for that."

Melanie Carter, a passenger with two young children, said: "The air hostesses were very good and tried to help but it was very difficult to hear what they were saying.”

It was quite an ordeal for the passengers and crew, even after they landed safely in Baku.

All 467 passengers were eventually moved to a hotel, but this was only 15 hours after reaching the Baku airport.

Singapore Airlines said this was because it took a long time to get approval from local authorities to let passengers leave the transit area.

Steve Barnes, a visitor from London, said: "They couldn't get us into the hotels until we were four hours till we were due to leave, so we only spent 41 minutes in our room."

Those with relatives and friends on board said communication from the airline could have been better.

Annetta Mullen, whose friends were on SQ317, said: "When my husband rang them last night, and again this morning, the person on the other end said they didn't know what was going on and they needed to go find someone who did know. Eventually they came back this morning and said the flight was due to land early this afternoon."

Debra Lim, who was waiting for her parents, said: "We had to try and contact the airline and we couldn't contact Singapore Airlines because they don't have a person to talk to, it's just an automated voice. So I had to call the reservations hotline - the customer service officer there was very nice, she found out what was going on."

Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, SIA said the hotline was for its 24-hour call centre, and it apologises if the centre was not able to provide immediate information to the relatives of those affected.

The airline also noted it was only able to provide information when details could be confirmed as it was a developing situation.

It also pointed out it had been providing updates on its Facebook page and Twitter.

SIA said in a letter to passengers that it will offer a refund for the London-Singapore flight.

It has also made arrangements for onward flights for those who missed their connecting flights.

Ground services teams also met passengers on arrival at Changi to make hotel arrangements where needed.

Investigations into the cause of the depressurisation are ongoing.

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SIA plane headed for Azerbaijan to pick up stranded passengers

A replacement Singapore Airlines (SIA) aircraft is on its way from Singapore to Baku, Azerbaijan, to pick up passengers and cabin crew who are stranded at the airport there.

They were all on board an SQ plane that had to make an emergency landing there due to depressurisation.

The aircraft lost pressure about six hours into the flight.

A passenger related on what actually happened during the incident.

Nathan Phelps, a passenger, said: "I think we were just going over the mountainous area of Pakistan... and then all of a sudden, the plane just literally dropped real, real fast. As I had it, I had the map on the screen and you could see the altitude dropping rapidly. I think we dropped about 20,000 feet in less than two minutes.

"Then the mask dropped and then "Emergency, Emergency" came on the tannoy and then we were told to put our masks on. There was a bit of panic, I wouldn't say they were overly panicked. To be honest if anything, it was quite quiet, it was eerily quiet, the plane was quite dark. The captain just basically said there was a pressurisation problem on the plane."

Flight SQ317, an Airbus A380 aircraft, was travelling from London to Singapore before it had to be diverted to Baku.

There were 467 passengers and 27 crew members on board the plane. No one was injured.

SIA said the aircraft landed "uneventfully" at Baku Airport at 1.03am local time.

The replacement aircraft is expected to reach Baku at 11pm local time there and arrive back in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon.

SIA said it doesn't operate regular flights to Baku.

Staff from both Istanbul and Moscow have been deployed to provide assistance on the ground.

An aviation expert explained the likely causes of depressurisation.

Assoc Prof Randy Chue, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, said: "Most common ones are such as, you have leak in the doors, there may be cracked windows.

"The more serious cases would be the systems maintaining the cabin pressure (that) are not working properly, but usually those are very rare. It is usually the seals of the door that are the culprits. Although it may be panicky for the passengers, usually it does not cause any injuries."

Earlier, SIA said it is seeking clearance from local authorities to transfer affected customers to a hotel while waiting for a replacement aircraft to arrive.

But passengers said they were not allowed to leave the airport as they did not have a visa.

And they said it took about two-and-a-half hours before food was brought out from the plane.

Singapore Airlines has apologised to affected customers for the inconvenience and said it is investigating the cause of the depressurisation.

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SIA flight makes emergency landing in Azerbaijan

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from London to Singapore made an emergency landing in Azerbaijan on Monday after the cabin depressurised on board the Airbus A380.

Oxygen masks were deployed and no injuries were reported, according to SIA's Facebook page.

SQ317, with 467 passengers and 27 crew members on board, landed in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku "uneventfully" at about 1.03am local time (5.03am, Singapore time), SIA said.

The airline is currently seeking clearance from local authorities to transfer the affected customers to a hotel until a replacement aircraft arrives from Singapore.

Customers can contact the reservation and ticketing office in Singapore at +65 6223 8888 for assistance.

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