A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight bound for Manchester in England was diverted to nearby East Midlands airport after two aborted landings due to gusty winds. The aircraft with 201 passengers and 17 crew later landed safely at Manchester.

In response to TODAY's queries, SIA said that the Airbus A350-900 operating flight SQ52 from Singapore to Manchester on Wednesday (Jan 24) landed "uneventfully" at East Midlands airport at 10.14am local time (6.14pm Singapore time).

"SQ52 subsequently departed East Midlands Airport at 11.44am (local time) after refuelling and after conditions had improved around Manchester Airport. It landed uneventfully in Manchester at 12.24pm (local time)," it added.

TODAY understands that earlier media reports about a mid-flight emergency being declared by SQ52 are not correct.

A report by British newspaper The Mirror stated that passengers onboard the plane were thrown around “like a roller coaster”, causing a woman to vomit.

It reported that the flight had twice aborted landing at Manchester Airport due to high winds associated by a major storm known as Storm Jocelyn.

One passenger Stuart Wild, 64, was quoted as saying: “The plane was rocking and rolling.

“When we took off from Singapore, we had to drop from 35,000 to 25,000 (feet) because of turbulence. Coming into Manchester, it was bumpy as we came to land.

“We tried to land and then took off again, did a large circle and then tried again but had to take off. Next thing we knew, we were told we had to go to East Midlands Airport.”

SIA said: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. We sincerely apologise to the affected customers for the inconvenience caused.”

TODAY understands that meal vouchers were offered to the passengers.

Storm Jocelyn is the 10th named storm to hit Britain since late September.

Ireland’s national meteorological service, Met Eireann, the agency which named the storm Jocelyn, issued weather warnings for very strong winds with “severe and damaging gusts”.

While Storm Jocelyn is expected to be less extreme than its other predecessors, it comes as the United Kingdom is still grappling with the extensive damage caused by Storm Isha, which hit over the weekend and Monday.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Today Online

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