Singapore Airlines has confirmed that an almost new Airbus 330-300 flying to Shanghai temporarily lost power on both its Rolls-Royce engines after encountering foul weather at 12,000 meters, and made a controlled descent of 4,000 meters while propulsion was restored.
The incident occurred on Saturday night; the airline's share price fell 1.38% on Wednesday to close at 11.42 Singapore dollars ($8.47) after it became public.
At the time of the incident, Flight SQ836 was three and a half hours out of Singapore in the vicinity of Hong Kong. According to the airline, one engine recovered almost immediately. With both engines restarted, the aircraft recovered altitude and continued "normally." None of the 194 people on board was hurt, and mechanical tests on arrival revealed nothing amiss.
Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor of Flightglobal, said that further investigation was needed but the pilot appeared to have handled the situation well. "I wouldn't rush to relate it to any other incidents," he said.
Air safety in Asia has been under intense scrutiny following a series of disasters and misadventures in the past 18 months, and the shortage of pilots and engineers precipitated by stiffer international competition and the regional increase in low-cost carriers.
The Airbus 330-300 is one of about 30 in the Singapore Airlines' fleet, and was delivered at the end of March.
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