SIA plane hits aerobridge at Changi Airport; all 272 passengers and 12 crew on board unhurt

PASSENGERS on a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday had to disembark just before take off, when the plane hit an aerobridge.

Flight SQ178, scheduled to depart at 9.45am, had just left the gate at Changi Airport and was being pushed back by a tow tug when the incident occurred.

Confirming the incident, an SIA spokesman told The Straits Times that the front body (near the nose) of the Airbus 330-300 hit one of the two aerobridges that had earlier been used for boarding.

All 272 passengers and 12 crew who were on board the aircraft eventually disembarked normally via the aerobridge that was not hit, she said.

A replacement aircraft was arranged and the flight left Singapore about two hours later at about noon.

"Damage to the aircraft is being assessed and investigations will be carried out to determine how the incident occurred," she said.

Changi Airport Group (CAG) spokesman Ivan Tan said: "Changi Airport's ground personnel provided assistance to the affected passengers. CAG will work with the relevant parties on the investigations."

There was slight damage to the aerobridge which has since been repaired, he said.

This is not the first time that an SIA plane has been damaged on the ground at Changi Airport.

In November 2017, a tow tug caught fire as it was pulling an SIA Boeing 777-200 to a departure gate.

The aircraft was crossing the bridge above Airport Boulevard Road when the tow tug caught fire.

While there were no passengers on board the aircraft at the time, the fire damaged the plane which had to be grounded for repairs.

THE STRAITS TIMES