With reputation at risk, SIA must not allow its safety standards to waver

THE grainy videos showing a Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane on fire early on Monday morning were frightening, to say the least. The pilots of Milan-bound SQ368 decided to make a dramatic U-turn to Changi Airport about two hours into the journey following a suspected engine oil leak.

Not long after the Boeing 777-300 touched down on the tarmac, its right wing burst into flames. Firefighters doused the fire as the passengers waited in the cabin. Meanwhile, videos of the terrifying scenes soon went viral on the Internet.

While it is fortunate that none of the 241 people on board - 222 passengers and 19 crew members - were harmed and managed to disembark safely, the incident does raise some pressing questions about the national carrier's safety protocol and standards. When did the plane last undergo a complete maintenance and servicing? How did the pre-flight checks at Changi miss signs of the oil leaks? Is SIA's ageing fleet also partly to blame?