PUBLISHED ONFebruary 24, 2025 3:45 AMByLim KeweiAbout 20 minutes after taking off from Xi'an, China, a Singapore-bound Scoot flight facing a technical issue returned to the airport on Sunday (Feb 23).
One passenger on flight TR135, who was seated at the aircraft's rear end, said on Chinese video sharing platform Douyin that they witnessed the plane engine emitting "rocket-like sparks".
"I was scared half to death," they wrote in the caption of their video, which shows multiple emergency vehicles waiting on the ground of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.
Singaporean traveller Ng Xinyu, who was seated on the right side of the plane with a friend told The Straits Times that a "flickering red effect" had appeared on the ceiling.
She noticed a strong smell of fuel, which dissipated quickly, upon landing in Xi'an.
The plane had departed Xi'an at 1.33am on Sunday and was originally scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 7.35am.
Ng said they were informed in the late afternoon that the flight had been rescheduled to Monday.
In response to AsiaOne's queries, Scoot said the plane "landed uneventfully" at 1.56am in Xi'an, and all travellers and crew disembarked "normally".
The budget airline said there was no engine fire and that emergency services were activated at the airport as a precaution.
"As engineers on the ground required more time to resolve the issue, a decision was made to cancel the flight," it added.
Scoot said that all customers were provided with necessary assistance on the ground, including hotel accommodation and ground transport.
"Scoot sincerely apologises for the disruption and inconvenience caused. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority," it said.
For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.
