SINGAPORE, Oct 12 — A Scoot flight going from Singapore to Perth turned back to Changi Airport today due to a bomb threat.
The plane was escorted back to the airport by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) aircraft, and emergency services were also activated, Scoot said in response to CNA’s queries.
Scoot flight TR16 departed Singapore on Thursday at 4.11pm.
“About one hour into the flight, a precautionary decision was made to turn the aircraft back to Singapore due to a bomb threat,” said the airline.
It added that the plane landed safely in Singapore at 6.27pm and security checks were carried out.
“Scoot is assisting the authorities with their investigations. As this is a security matter, we regret that we are unable to provide further details,” the airline said.
“Scoot sincerely apologises for the disruption and inconvenience caused. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority, and we will continue to provide assistance to our customers.”
According to data from flight tracker Flightradar24, flight TR16 made a U-turn over Indonesia’s Bangka Island and headed back towards Singapore about 30 minutes into the flight.
It then entered a holding pattern over the South China Sea east of Malaysia, flying in loops for about 50 minutes.
The plane subsequently flew over Batam before landing at Changi Airport on Thursday evening. As of 6.50pm, the plane appeared to be stationary near the southern end of Runway 3 and had not returned to a terminal.
While this was in progress, several flights to Singapore including Singapore Airlines flight SQ331 from Paris, United Airlines flight UA29 from San Francisco and IndiGo flight 6E1013 from New Delhi were put in holding patterns over the Riau Islands.
These flights began landing shortly after TR16 touched down. — TODAY
