Batik Air flight makes emergency landing in Indonesia, no bomb found

An Indonesian Batik Air flight with 122 people on board made an emergency landing in Makassar in South Sulawesi after a suspected bomb threat, a government official said on Friday.

No bomb was found on the plane.

"I got a call from Sultan Hasanuddin airport in Makassar giving information about a bomb on Batik Air flight flying from Ambon to Jakarta," said J.A. Barata, spokesman for the transport ministry.

"Details on how they found out is unclear yet, I'm still waiting for information. The police is in charge of that now."

The plane was isolated from other flights and airport operations were not affected, said Tommy Soetomo, chief executive of airport operator Ankasara Pura I.

Batik Air is a subsidiary of Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air.

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SIA flight hit by turbulence; 22 hurt

Eight passengers and 14 crew members were injured on Saturday (Oct 18) when a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from Singapore to Mumbai was hit by turbulence on descent.

An SIA statement said: "Singapore Airlines flight SQ424 from Singapore to Mumbai experienced sudden turbulence during descent on 18 October. There were 408 passengers and 25 crew on board."

"Eight passengers and 14 crew sustained injuries and were attended to by medical personnel on arrival at Mumbai Airport. Of the 14 crew, 10 required hospitalisation. They have been cleared and discharged by the medical personnel. All 8 passengers were hospitalised and 6 have been discharged by the medical personnel after examination," it added.

"Our immediate concern is for the well-being of our passengers and crew. Singapore Airlines will provide full assistance to the authorities in their investigations," said the statement.

A passenger on the flight told Channel NewsAsia that his experience on SQ424 was "scary".

Harsh Nayyar, 30, from Australia was travelling to Mumbai to visit his family when the plane hit turbulence. In a Facebook post on the SIA page, he described the incident as "the plane losing altitude in the air". He also said that during the turbulence, passengers in the main deck, including cabin crew, "were thrown into the air" and "hit the roof of the plane".

He added that throughout the ordeal, the pilot "did not speak any word as to what had happened until the end."

SIA acknowledged Mr Nayyar's comments on its Facebook page and said that "investigations are underway". Information regarding the incident will be released "as soon as it is available", the airline added.

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'Technical problem' forces Dreamliner emergency landing in Britain

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet on its way from Chicago to Warsaw was forced to land in Glasgow on Friday (Sep 26) because of a "technical issue", an airport spokesman told AFP.

The modern plane, operated by Poland's LOT airline, landed safely at the Scottish airport at 10.45am London time (6.45pm Singapore time) and was being checked by emergency services after passengers disembarked.

Boeing said in a statement that it was "aware" of the diversion of the plane, which was carrying 248 passengers. "We are working with our customer to assess the situation. At this time we have no further details," it said.

The Dreamliners have been hit by a series of troubles. A battery problem on a All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner last year forced an emergency landing in Japan. Other faults have been reported with an air pressure sensor and the brake system. Boeing also said earlier this year that hairline cracks have been found in the wings of some of the jets due to a manufacturing problem.

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Passengers evacuated from plane after smoke scare in India

Passengers aboard an Indian Indigo jet were evacuated Wednesday (Aug 20) using emergency chutes after air traffic controllers warned the pilot about dense smoke as the plane landed at New Delhi airport. Some of the 147 people on the Airbus A-320 flight sustained minor injuries during the emergency evacuation, said a statement from Indigo, India's leading private carrier.

"All the passengers were evacuated by the right-hand-side slide-chute and one left-hand-side slide chute in approximately 75 seconds," the budget airline said. "We confirm that all passengers and crew members are safe."

The plane was arriving in Delhi from Mumbai. Air traffic controllers informed the pilot about "dense smoke" as the aircraft touched down, the airline said, without giving details of the smoke's origin. The captain immediately ordered the crew to evacuate all passengers.

Some local TV channels reported that the tyres of the plane had caught fire, but the Indigo statement said there had been "no fire and this was not an emergency or priority landing".

The scare comes after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stripped India of its top safety rating, citing a lack of safety oversight. The FAA decision in January was based on an audit last year of the country's aviation regulator that found 31 issues of concern, including a shortage of well-trained inspectors to carry out safety checks.

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India orders Jet Airways to suspend pilots after mid-air dive

India's civil aviation regulator said Thursday (Aug 14) it has ordered Jet Airways to suspend two pilots after a flight to Brussels made a mid-air dive, forcing air traffic controllers to issue an emergency warning.

The Times of India said the captain was on a scheduled rest break when the plane dropped almost 1,500 metres over Turkey, putting it at an altitude assigned to another aircraft.

Air traffic controllers in Ankara had to issue an emergency warning to the co-pilot on duty, who the paper said "did not notice that the aircraft had lost altitude" because she was using her tablet computer at the time.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it had summoned the captain and co-pilot for questioning over what it called a "serious incident" during the flight from Mumbai to Brussels last Friday.

"Both the pilots have been taken off the roster pending inquiry," said the regulator in a statement. "Additionally, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been asked to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident."

The airline said it had launched its own investigation. "Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways, as is also the welfare of our guests and crew," it said in a statement.

Jet Airways, in which Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has a 24 percent stake, is India's second-biggest carrier.

India's air passenger market has expanded at breakneck speed, but many companies are laden with debt due to cut-throat fare wars, high fuel costs and shoddy infrastructure.

In 2011, the airline sector was shaken by a scandal over a number of unqualified Indian pilots flying on fake licences. And in January the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stripped the country of its top safety rating, citing a lack of safety oversight. It downgraded India's aviation safety rating to category two from category one, putting it in the company of countries such as Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

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Thai Airways jet makes emergency landing in Bali due to cracked window

A Thai Airways plane en route from Sydney to Bangkok made an emergency landing on the Indonesian island of Bali after a crack was discovered in the cockpit window, officials said Wednesday (Aug 13).

The Boeing 747, carrying 273 passengers and 21 crew, was six hours into the journey Tuesday when the captain found the defect and decided to land on Bali, the airline said in a statement. The Daily Mail Australia identified the flight as TG467 and reported that the cracked window caused a fall in cabin pressure.

A spokesman for the island's airport described the landing at around 5pm (0900 GMT) as a "minor disruption".

There were no reports of injuries and the passengers stayed in a Bali hotel overnight. They were set to fly on to Bangkok later Wednesday in another plane. Thai Airways said it was sending a team to Bali to investigate the incident and supervise the changing of the damaged window.

In September last year, more than a dozen passengers were slightly injured when a Thai Airways jet skidded off the runway in Bangkok after the landing gear malfunctioned.

Just over a week before that incident, dozens of passengers and crew were injured when a Thai Airways A380 superjumbo hit severe turbulence during a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong.

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Singapore Airlines plane in near miss at Houston

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane leaving Houston flew too close to another aircraft on Friday, resulting in a near collision.

NBC News said the SIA flight took off from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly before 7 pm in the US on Thursday, which was Friday in Singapore.

The SIA pilot did not level off when he reached 4,000 feet as required, resulting in the aircraft being less than 2,000 feet away from a Delta Air Lines plane that was preparing to land in Houston, NBC said.

When contacted, an SIA spokesman confirmed "there was a loss of separation" involving an SIA Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and another plane in Houston.

Flight SQ61 had departed Houston on July 3 and arrived safely in Moscow on July 4. There were 235 passengers and 18 crew on board.

"Investigations are taking place and as a result we regret we are not able to provide any additional info," he said.

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SIA plane turns back mid-flight due to cargo door alert

A Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Hong Kong was forced to turned back to Singapore on Friday after pilots received a warning about a problem with a cargo door, the flag-carrier said.

The Airbus A380 superjumbo, carrying 263 passengers, left Changi Airport just after 1pm (0500 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong at about 5pm.

Flight SQ866 landed safely at Changi Airport at 2.20pm.

Passengers were then transferred to a replacement flight to Hong Kong, which took off at 5pm.

"The Airbus A380 Flight SQ866 from Singapore to Hong Kong returned to Changi Airport this afternoon as a result of a cockpit warning relating to a cargo door," a Singapore Airlines (SIA) spokesman said.

"SIA engineers are currently troubleshooting to find out the cause of why the warning came on," he added.

SQ866 is a daily flight from Singapore to Hong Kong that usually departs at 1pm.

Singapore Airlines has 19 A380s with five others on order, operating on routes from Singapore to various destinations including Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London and Los Angeles.

In January, one of the airline's A380 fleet was forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan after suffering a drop in cabin pressure. The flag-carrier subsequently said its investigation into the incident was focusing on a main deck door that appeared to have suffered a leak.

More than 120 A380s are in operation worldwide following the launch of the Airbus flagship superjumbo in 2007.

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Plane lands safely in Australia after engine fire

A passenger plane carrying 93 people landed safely at Perth Airport on Tuesday despite a dramatic midair engine fire shortly after take-off, officials said.

No one was hurt during the scare on the Cobham Aviation jet bound from Perth for Barrow Island in Western Australia, but some passengers panicked.

"Fuel starting spewing out, caught alight, there was a bit of panic on board but the pilots were quite quick to react and cut fuel lines and then put it out," Jason Grimmett, who was on the plane, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"So we just turned around and came back in."

Grimmett said most of those on board remained calm as the four-engine plane returned to the terminal, but not all.

"There was a couple of guys that were panicking quite bad but we've still got three other engines, so unless something major goes wrong, just a bit of fuel caught alight," he said.

A spokeswoman for the government agency Airservices Australia told AFP there was a fire in the number two engine shortly after departure.

"The pilot shut it down, the flames were extinguished and the plane returned to Perth," she said.

"It landed safely and was able to taxi to its gate. The fire services provided an escort on the ground."

Witnesses on the ground said they saw flames billowing from an engine of the British Aerospace 146 jet while it was in the air and feared the worst.

"As soon as it got up over the buildings, I could see a 20 metre or 30 metre trail of red and white smoke coming from the left-hand engine," said a caller to local radio station 6PR, identified only as Gary.

"It was climbing at the time and it just looked terrible, it looked like it was going to be a disaster."

The airline is a charter company servicing regional Western Australia.

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Malaysia Airlines jet in emergency landing after tyre bursts

A Malaysia Airlines plane with 166 people aboard was forced to make an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur early on Monday in another blow to its safety image after the loss of flight MH370.

Flight MH192, bound for Bangalore, India, turned back to Kuala Lumpur after it was discovered that a tyre had burst on take-off, the airline said.

"As safety is of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines, the aircraft was required to turn back to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport)," the airline said in a statement.

The plane landed safely at 1:56 am (1756 GMT), nearly four hours after it took off, the flag carrier said.

"All 159 passengers and 7 crew members on board have disembarked from the aircraft."

The airline said tyre debris discovered on the runway had led to the decision to bring the Boeing 737-800 aircraft back.

"They have landed safely -- thank God," tweeted Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is overseeing Malaysia's response to MH370.

The airline is still reeling from the loss and presumed crash of flight MH370, which disappeared March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

MH370 inexplicably diverted and is now believed to have crashed into the remote Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard.

Hishammuddin had tweeted that MH192 went into a holding pattern as other reports quoted officials saying it would only be allowed to land once all of its fuel had been burned off.

MH192's passengers would be accommodated in local hotels and the flight was re-timed to take off at 3:30 pm local time on Monday, the airline said.

Malaysia Airlines had previously enjoyed a good safety record, as did the Boeing 777 aircraft used for MH370.

An Australian-led multi-nation search effort is now scouring a remote area of the Indian Ocean for wreckage from flight MH370 in a bid to confirm its fate and hopefully recover the flight data recorders to determine what happened to it.

No surface debris has been found despite a month of searching, but search crews had earlier picked up signals believed to be from the beacons of the plane's data recorders.

A US Navy submersible sonar scanning device is now being deployed to look for wreckage on the seabed at depths of around 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) or more.

Nothing has yet been found and authorities have indicated they may reassess within days how to approach the extremely challenging search -- expected to be the costliest in aviation history with estimates of more than $100 million.

Malaysia's government and the airline have come under harsh criticism from Chinese relatives of MH370 passengers -- two thirds of its 227 passengers were from China -- who have alleged a bungling response and cover-up.

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Malaysian carrier Malindo Air catches fire mid-air

A Malindo Air flight bound for Kuala Terengganu had to turn back to the Subang Airport on Wednesday morning after one of its engines caught fire.

The hybrid airline, in a statement, said the incident occurred as the aircraft climbed to about 7,000 feet (2,334 metres) soon after it took off at 7.30am.

It said the aircraft fire detection system was activated and the crew immediately carried out an emergency standard operating procedure to contain the situation.

"The captain decided to turn back to Subang and the aircraft landed safely at the airport. No one was hurt.

"All the passengers were later transferred to another flight for Terengganu," it said.

Malindo Air said the cause of the fire was being investigated and the incident was reported to relevant authorities, including the engine and aircraft manufacturer.

It was learnt that Terengganu footballers were among the passengers onboard.

They were returning home after their Super League match against the Armed Forces at the Selayang Stadiumon Tuesday night. Terengganu won 3-0.

A picture of the burning engine posted on a social media site by Terengganu midfielder Mohd Faiz Subri on Wednesday morning went viral.

The Terengganu Football Association website said the team took a replacement flight back to Kuala Terengganu at 10am.

Headquartered in Petaling Jaya, Malindo Air is a joint venture between National Aerospace and Defence Industries (Nadi) of Malaysia and Lion Air of Indonesia.

Midfielder Mohd Faiz, 28, said the passengers had the fright of their life when they heard an explosion, after which they saw one of the plane propellers catching fire just after taking off.

"I could only pray that nothing bad would happen to us. Furthermore, it was the first time I encountered this kind of emergency.

"All of us were quite in a panic, but the pilot and crew acted professionally to calm us down," he told Bernama at the Sultan Mahmud Airport on Wednesday.

Defender Mohd Zubir Azmi, 26, said he became frightened and nervous as he thought of the fate of passengers and crew of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

"After the plane landed safely in Subang we thought of going back to Terengganu by bus, but we took the replacement flight at 11.15am anyway," he said.

Commending Malindo Air crew for their professionalism, another passenger, Dietmar Gierlich, 31, who was on a work trip, said: "The crew asked the passengers not to panic and took very fast action. The passengers also co-operated well with the crew and every one had made things easier."

Dismissing a suggestion that he will not be flying by Malindo Air again, he said, "The situation could happen to anyone or any plane in the world."

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Electrical problems divert Malaysia Airlines plane to HK

A Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul had to divert to Hong Kong early Monday due to electrical problems, the carrier said, adding to the flag-carrier's headaches as it grapples with its missing plane crisis.

Flight MH066 was "diverted to Hong Kong due to an inoperative aircraft generator which supplies normal electrical power" on the Airbus A330-300, the airline said in a statement.

"However, electrical power continued to be supplied by the Auxiliary Power Unit," the company said, giving no further details on the equipment problem.

It said the aircraft landed in Hong Kong "uneventfully" and that all 271 passengers had been transferred to other carriers.

A Hong Kong Airport Authority spokeswoman said the aircraft touched down without incident at about 3:00 am.

The plane had departed from Kuala Lumpur at 11:37 pm (1537 GMT) on Sunday and was scheduled to arrive at Seoul's Incheon airport at 6:50 am, South Korean time.

As a result of the diversion, the return flight MH067 from Incheon to Kuala Lumpur was cancelled and passengers were transferred to other carriers as well as subsequent Malaysia Airlines flights to Kuala Lumpur.

On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared off civilian radar just an hour into its journey to Beijing, sparking an unprecedented international search across huge swathes of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.

Malaysia has said the plane -- with 239 people aboard -- veered inexplicably off of its intended route in an apparently deliberate act.

Aircraft and ships from several nations have picked up a suspected trail in the southern Indian Ocean, where large pieces of floating debris have been spotted but not yet retrieved to determine if they are from MH370.

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JAL Dreamliner makes emergency landing in Honolulu

Japan Airlines said Sunday its Dreamliner flight from Tokyo to San Francisco made an emergency landing in Honolulu, reportedly due to a possible problem with its hydraulic system.

The pilot of flight JL002, carrying 171 passengers and crew, decided to divert to Hawaii after a warning message about falling pressure of lubricant oil in its right engine, according to Japanese national broadcaster NHK.

NHK said that there was no fire and no injuries.

In a short statement on its website, JAL said the jet had landed in Honolulu due to "maintenance issues".

"This flight terminated its operation at Honolulu International Airport," the announcement said.

JAL officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has suffered a series of problems since coming into service two years ago, including a global grounding of its fleet over battery system problems.

Boeing admitted that despite months of testing it did not know the root cause of the battery problems, but rolled out modifications it said would ensure the issue did not recur.

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Indian plane evacuated after catching fire in Nepal

An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Kathmandu evacuated passengers using a slide chute on Saturday after its rear wheel caught fire while landing in the Nepalese capital, the carrier, India's largest airline, said.

"After parking, the ground engineer observed smoke and fire from the right brake assembly... All 175 passengers, one infant and six crew members are safe," said a statement, adding an investigation was underway.

The low-cost airline, launched in 2006, is a privately-held success story, famed for placing the largest-ever plane order of 180 Airbus A320 aircraft worth more than $15 billion in 2011.

US aviation authorities downgraded India's air safety ranking in January to category two, saying its aviation safety supervision did not comply with international safety standards.

The downgrade brought India below Pakistan and on a par with countries such as Bangladesh, Ghana and Indonesia, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.

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Smoke scare on Etihad flight from Melbourne

Investigations were underway on Wednesday after smoke was detected in two toilets on an Etihad Airways flight from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi, forcing a diversion to Jakarta.

The carrier said the drama occurred on flight EY461 on Monday with the captain diverting to the Indonesian capital as a precaution.

The plane landed normally and after a security search of the aircraft, passengers and their carry-on luggage it took off again with the captain enforcing "strict controls over passenger movement in the cabin, particularly passenger access to the toilets".

Then, two hours before arrival in Abu Dhabi, the smoke alarms went off again.

"The smoke was detected and dealt with immediately by the crew," Etihad said.

"The captain decided to position crew members at each of the toilets which meant that normal cabin service was not possible.

"The food and beverage service was discontinued and the crew continued to monitor and secure toilet access for the remainder of the flight."

The airline said all passengers and crew were interviewed by authorities in Abu Dhabi with the investigation ongoing.

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Ethiopian co-pilot hijacks plane to seek Swiss asylum

The co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines plane hijacked his aircraft Monday and forced it to land in Geneva so he could seek asylum, igniting what one passenger described as "pure fear".

The Ethiopian locked himself in the cockpit when the captain went to the bathroom during flight ET-702 from Addis Ababa, which had been due to fly to Rome.

He was swiftly arrested in Geneva after scaling down a rope out of the cockpit window and prosecutors said the chances of his demands being met were slim.

"We thought the co-pilot had gone mad," Francesco Cuomo, a 25-year-old development economist who was on board, was quoted by Italian media as saying.

"The captain was threatening to open the cockpit door and tried to break it down without success. That's when we understood that something serious was going on.

"When we started circling over Geneva, there were moments of pure fear," he said.

After landing in Rome from Geneva, another passenger, Diego Gardelli, said the passengers did not realise they had been hijacked until the captain told them after landing. They thought there had been a technical problem.

"We thought we were going to plunge into the sea," he said, adding that passengers were also told to wear oxygen masks for half an hour during the flight.

"We feared the worst," said Elda, a 75-year-old passenger, adding that passengers were frisked one by one after coming off the plane "because they thought there could be accomplices".

In an audio recording on Italian media websites, a voice said to be the captain could be heard trying to reassure passengers once they were on the ground.

"The pilot is still locked inside the cockpit but he is not armed," the man was heard saying.

"He threatened to crash the plane. I don't know his motives and I'm not interested. All I'm interested in is the fact that you're safe," he said.

In a smartphone video, passengers could also be seen with their hands behind their heads as a police announcement is heard over the loudspeakers repeating: "This is a police operation. Do not move!"

Addis Ababa identified the hijacker as 31-year-old Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn, who had been working for the airline for five years.

It was unclear why he felt the need to seek asylum, but Geneva's chief prosecutor Olivier Jornot said his chances were "not very high."

Ethiopian Information Minister Redwan Hussein said that as far as it was known, Tagegn was "medically sane."

"We don't see any criminal record... and there was no reason for him to be prosecuted so there was no reason for him to flee," he added.

Tagegn risks a 20-year prison sentence.

A total of 202 passengers and crew were on board the Boeing 767 as the drama unfolded.

Head of operations at Geneva airport, Xavier Wohlschlag, told the ATS news agency the hijacker's request to land was initially denied.

The green light was not given until around 5:30 am (0430 GMT), as the plane, which was first escorted by Italian fighter jets and later reportedly by French ones, circled the region.

It emerged later on Monday that no Swiss fighter jets were scrambled as the hijack happened outside the business hours of the country's air force, which operate between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

The plane finally landed in Geneva at 6:02 am, about an hour and a half after it was due in Rome.

"He parked the plane on the taxiway, he cut the engines then opened the cockpit window, threw out a rope and used it to descend to the tarmac," Swiss police spokesman Eric Grandjean told AFP.

"He ran towards the police and immediately identified himself as the co-pilot and hijacker."

The runway was crowded with police and other emergency vehicles as passengers filed out with their arms up in the air or on their heads before boarding waiting buses.

Flights to and from Geneva were either diverted or cancelled during the drama, but operations later resumed, said airport chief executive Robert Deillon.

Up to 30 flights and 4,000 passengers flying during the busy ski season were estimated to be affected.

In all, 14 hijackings have occurred in Switzerland since 1969, when Arab militants seized an Israeli passenger plane at Zurich airport, fatally wounding a pilot.

One hijacker died in a subsequent assault by Israeli special forces and three others were arrested.

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Singapore Airlines assisting NZ, S’pore after measles alert

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is assisting both New Zealand and Singapore health authorities with contact information of customers who were seated in the vicinity of a passenger who had contracted measles.

SIA said this is for the purpose of contact tracing and further investigations.

The passenger had travelled from Singapore to Auckland on Sunday on flight SQ281 which arrived at night.

A SIA spokesperson said the airline was informed on Tuesday that one of its passengers on that flight had been infected with measles.

The spokesperson added that SIA will provide its full cooperation to the health authorities of both countries.

There were 260 other passengers on board SQ281.

New Zealand’s health authorities estimate that those passengers would have since been in close contact with at least another 100 people. 

SIA added that there are no reports of its cabin crew or ground staff being infected.

The crew has been informed to look out for any related symptoms over the next week.

As for disinfecting the aircraft, SIA said the ventilation systems on its aircraft are designed for air to be changed every two or three minutes, which is at a higher rate than that in most buildings.

SIA also uses High Efficiency Particulate Arrestor (HEPA) filters in its aircraft ventilation systems.

The filters are similar to those used in critical wards of hospital and clean rooms, and are replaced regularly in compliance with industry regulations. 

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'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.

SOURCE