SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from Hong Kong to Singapore on Feb 26 was delayed by almost three hours before takeoff, after some of its cabin crew members were found to have breached security procedures.
A Hong Kong International Airport spokesperson said this in reply to Channel NewsAsia’s queries on Wednesday (Mar 7).
Flight SQ861 was scheduled to take off at 3.45pm but instead departed at 6.20pm, after passengers and crew members on the flight were required to disembark and undergo security screenings again.
According to the airport spokesperson, five crew members from the flight had entered the restricted area at the departures level "without carrying crew permits and undergoing security screening".
The Airport Authority Hong Kong said that the airport security reported three crew members from SQ861 for this security lapse at around 3.40pm on Feb 26. Later, they found two other crew members had done the same.
"Police were called onsite to handle the case according to existing procedures. It was later found that two other crew members of the same flight had also entered departures level without crew permits and undergoing security screening, and subsequently boarded the plane," the spokesperson added.
AdvertisementAdvertisementPassengers and crew members on the flight were required to go through security checks all over again, the spokesperson said, adding that this was according to security procedures.
“After confirming the case was cleared, the flight eventually took off at around 1820hrs," the spokesperson added.
Detailing airport security procedures for cabin crew, the spokesperson said: "According to standard procedures, cabin crew arriving at Hong Kong International Airport and departing on the same aircraft under a different flight code (should they choose to leave the aircraft) are required to carry crew permits and go through security screening at the arrival levels before accessing the aircraft via the departures level of the restricted area.”
In response to Channel NewsAsia’s queries on Tuesday, SIA said the cabin crew were required to assist airport authorities in an investigation, but did not respond to questions on what the investigation was about.
This was the reply from an SIA spokesperson:
“Flight SQ861 from Hong Kong to Singapore was delayed on Feb 26, 2018 as some of our cabin crew members operating the flight were required to assist airport authorities in an investigation. This resulted in additional security screenings, which required the passengers to disembark from the aircraft. After the checks were completed, the crew members were allowed to operate the flight and passengers re-boarded before the flight departed Hong Kong at around 1820hrs local time.”
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