Plane plunges 13,000ft as engines fail during storm over South China Sea

A Singapore Airlines passenger plane carrying 194 people dropped 13,000ft after both engines lost power in a “huge storm”. The Airbus A330-300 was three and a half hours into its five-hour flight from Singapore to Shanghai when its Rolls-Royce Trent 772 engines failed at 39,000ft. The pilots managed to restore power by putting the aircraft into a controlled descent to 26,000ft, before climbing again. SQ836 continued normally to Shanghai and landed at 10.56pm local time on Saturday, Singapore Airlines said.

We are not able to provide further information, but we can confirm that the same aircraft was used for the return flight.

Singapore Airlines spokesman

It said both engines were “thoroughly inspected” and “no anomalies” were detected. Aviation experts said it was a “very unusual occurrence” for both engines to lose power. Singapore Airlines, Airbus and Rolls-Royce are investigating the incident. Rolls-Royce said its engines have an “exceptional record of safety and reliability, established over 20 years”. The British manufacturer is working with the airline to provide support and technical assistance, a spokesman said.

Generally these engines are extremely reliable and they work continuously for 13-14 hours a day for months and years.

Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor of aviation information firm Flightglobal

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