SOUTH KOREA:Singapore Airlines Takeoff Aborted At Seoul Airport

San Francisco-bound SQ16 was reported to have made an emergency stop during takeoff to avoid Korean Air flight KE-929 which was crossing the runway without permission.

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane bound for San Francisco aborted takeoff at Seoul airport last Thursday (May 5) following instructions from air traffic control to avoid a Korean Air plane.

“The aborted takeoff resulted in the deflation of a number of tyres on the Boeing 777-300ER, requiring passengers to disembark from the aircraft on the taxiway,” said an SIA spokesperson. There were 186 passengers and 18 crew onboard the flight, and none of them were injured.

According to a report from aviation news site The Aviation Herald, the flight was cleared for takeoff at 6.07pm local time (5.07pm Singapore time). It was accelerating for takeoff when Korean Air flight KE-929, bound for St Petersburg, suddenly crossed the runway. This prompted the instruction to abort takeoff.

Affected passengers were provided with hotel accommodation, said the SIA spokesperson. Following replacement of the tyres, the aircraft departed for San Francisco at 1.05pm local time on Friday (May 6).

The Korean Ministry of Transportation has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the incident, according to AirLive, an aviation site.