SINGAPORE: A Scoot airplane was forced to turn back to Changi Airport less than an hour into its flight to Melbourne on Tuesday (Jan 8) due to a fault in its weather radar.
Responding to Channel NewsAsia's queries, the airline said the Boeing 787-8 landed back in Singapore at about 12.49pm - just 48 minutes after take-off.
Advertisement"Due to a fault detected with the aircraft's weather radar component after take-off, Scoot flight TR24 scheduled to depart Singapore for Melbourne on 8 January at 11am local time had to turn back to Singapore after 48 minutes into the flight," said Scoot.
[h=3]READ: Scoot passengers stranded in Taipei on New Year's Eve after flight to Singapore delayed[/h][h=3]READ: "Never again" - Scoot passengers arrive in Singapore after 56-hour delay[/h]The flight was retimed to 5pm that same day, but eventually departed at 6.07pm. The 268 affected passengers "were provided with meals while the issue was rectified", said the airline.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe return flight from Melbourne, TR25 scheduled to depart at 10.30pm on Tuesday was also delayed to 7.30am on Wednesday.
HIGH-PROFILE DELAYS
The low-cost carrier owned by Singapore Airlines has suffered a number of high-profile delays recently, with at least two taking place just last month.
More than 350 passengers ushered in the New Year in the skies after their Scoot flight from Taipei was delayed for at least 28 hours over a technical fault.
[h=3]READ: Airlines should communicate with empathy when flight delays occur - a commentary[/h]Flight TR899 was supposed to depart Taoyuan airport on Dec 30 at 4.10pm, but was grounded due to an "electrical component defect". The flight was rescheduled to 11am the next day as replacement parts were flown from Singapore, but the problems persisted and the airline ended up having to arrange two "rescue flights" for the passengers.
[h=3]READ: Silkair flight makes emergency landing at Chiang Mai due to suspected hairline crack[/h]Earlier in December, passengers took to social media as a Scoot flight delay left them stranded in Athens for nearly three days. Flight TR713 had been scheduled to depart Athens for Singapore at 11.20am on Dec 18, but only did in the evening of Dec 20.
Several of the 321 affected passengers said they were upset with the airline's handling of the situation in Greece, with one passenger lamenting the lost time that she could have spent with family over the Christmas period. "That's it, never again," the passenger had said.
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