Fighter jets scramble to escort Perth-bound flight to Singapore after bomb threat

Singapore’s air force and emergency services were deployed on Thursday (Oct 12) to escort a flight operated by budget carrier Scoot back to the city-state’s Changi Airport after it received a bomb threat, said the airline in a statement. The threat was received an hour after the flight had departed from Singapore for the Australian city of Perth.

Whathappened?

According to the airline, Scoot flight TR16 to Perth departed Singapore at 4:11 pm (local time) and landed back in the city-state nearly two hours after the take-off at around 6:27 (local time) where security checks were carried out.

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In an emailed statement, Scoot – the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines Group – said that the decision to turn back the Perth-bound flight to Singapore was a “precautionary” one and taken after about an hour into the journey “due to a bomb threat.”

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It added, “The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was activated to escort the aircraft back to Changi Airport. Emergency services were also activated.”

“Scoot is assisting the authorities with their investigations. As this is a security matter, we regret that we are unable to provide further details,” said the airline.

The aircraft, as per media reports, was carrying 363 passengers and nine cabin crew members, as well as two pilots on board.

According to flight tracking website Flightradar24 the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was circling off the east coast of Malaysia before flying towards Changi Airport.

Defence ministry and eyewitness account

The city-state’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, in a Facebook post, said that two F-15SG fighter planes were scrambled to escort the Scoot flight back to Changi Airport.

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The Singapore police said that they were informed about the alleged bomb threat on the flight at around 4:55 pm (local time) and they are investigating the incident.

“The police take security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those who intentionally cause public alarm,” said a police spokesperson as quoted by The Straits Times.

A 30-year-old systems analyst, who did not want to be named, told The Straits Times that passengers were informed at about 5:05 that the aircraft was experiencing “minor issues”.

When the fighter jets arrived people were “passing phones to those seated by the windows to take photos,” adding that he did not sense much alarm among those on board.

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The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said one runway of the Changi airport shut for about an hour “to facilitate ground operations,” and eight arriving flights and six departures experienced some delay because of the incident.

(With inputs from agencies)

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