She called it the craziest plane ride of her life.
TikToker Bernice Lim posted a video on Sunday (Nov 3) recounting a wild 13-hour flight on Singapore Airlines that brought her back to where she started.
She and her family were on the SQ878 flight from Singapore to Taipei on Thursday.
"My family was so excited because this was their first time flying Singapore Airlines," said the TikToker in the almost two-minute video.
The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner took off at Changi Airport at 10.26am, according to FlightAware.
"We were supposed to land at 2.20pm, but by around 3pm, the skies were looking so grey. I was still happily applying my sunscreen and getting ready to land," said Miss Lim.
"However, the pilot tried landing the plane twice but failed due to the strong typhoon winds."
The typhoon she was referring to was Typhoon Kong-rey, the largest storm to hit Taiwan since 1996.
"We then received news that we will land in Hong Kong instead," said the TikToker.
"The lady next to me was so pissed because she was attending Andy Lau's concert."
The concert at the Taipei Arena was reportedly postponed from Oct 31 to Nov 2 because of the typhoon.
Miss Lim said: "I couldn't inform our driver either and he waited at the airport for three hours."
But she was actually looking forward to visiting Hong Kong.
"I was kinda excited to be honest because the last and only time I'd been to Hong Kong was in 2015. And even if we'll just be exploring the airport, that sounded fun too," said the TikToker.
"But then the captain informed us that we were not allowed to disembark and we'll be flying back to Singapore on the same plane in two hours.
"Everyone was visibly pissed and and I meant literally too. Everyone made a run for the toilets."
"Around 7pm, the plane took off. If anything, I was happy this was happening on SQ. We had entertainment and they tried their best to serve us even with limited food left.
"By around 10.30pm, we were back at Changi Airport right where we started. Thirteen-hour flight just to come back to where we started. That's crazy."
She added that they were given snacks at Changi Airport and could be reimbursed for their transport home too.
In a media reply, SIA said it would arrange for hotel accommodation for affected passengers in Singapore and rebook them on other flights to Taipei.
"SIA sincerely apologises to all customers for the inconvenience caused and is providing all necessary assistance to the affected customers," said the spokesperson.
"What a once-in-a-lifetime experience," acknowledged Miss Lim in the caption for her video.
"I'm glad we're all safe."
This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.
