SIA plane turns back to Istanbul after bird strike

SIA plane turns back to Istanbul after bird strike

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane was forced to turn back to Istanbul after encountering a bird strike following take-off yesterday.

All 255 passengers and 14 crew disembarked normally, SIA said, adding that alternative flight and accommodation arrangements were made for the passengers.

Flight SQ391 was originally scheduled to depart Istanbul at 1.30pm yesterday (Istanbul time) and arrive in Singapore at 5am today.

SIA will be deploying a relief flight, and it is estimated to depart Istanbul at 2.40am tomorrow (Istanbul time) and arrive in Singapore at about 6pm.

Turkish daily Bugun reported on its website bgnnews.com that the birds caused severe damage to the plane's composite lid known as the radome, its nose cone, and both its right and left engines.

SIA said that its engineers have been activated to assess the extent of the damage.

huizhen@sph.com.sg

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.