orionmiz

Which airlines are you flying? I better avoid that airline you are captaining, because it seems that you have very poor understanding in proper evacuation handling and procedures.

Anyway, thank god there's no casualties in this incident.

w4rd

I am surprised they didn't evacuate. I wonder how long the cabin is expected to protect against an engine fire?
That said passengers on the runway may have hampered fire fighters, and I keep thinking of Asiana 214 at SFO where the fire truck ran over a passenger (who was probably already deceased).

Kilian Zoll

Haha, yep sadly that's the case. Good luck trying to stand up for your rights against a government controlled company in Singapore. Consumer (or even human) rights are unfortunately at the bottom of the list of priorities.

lokijuh

Especially those as speculative as emotional distress.

Awesom Andy

In a very simplified way, when it comes to making a decision to evacuation, the captain decides if the pax are safer inside or outside the aircraft. If the emergency services have already been notified and are on the way, I suspect inside would be the better option.

AddictedTraveller

With reference to an evacuation remember that using the slides will inevitably result in a percentage of the passengers getting some injuries. The Qantas QF32 pilot also had this decision to make and decided to keep his passengers in the aircraft too.

But I'm sure the authorities will be looking closely at that decision as to whether they should or shouldn't have been evacuated.

The other issue to note is what engine warnings were received by the crew, as there were alternative airports closer to where the flight was at the time of turn back. KLIA for example has the appropriate equipment for a emergency of this kind.

I'm aware that the fire started when the plane landed, but it'll be interesting to read the full report.

Interestingly this could be another HP compressor failure for GE as with BA 2276 in Las Vegas last year (the pilot did order an evac in that case!).

KLflyerRalph

Indeed. Having a fire due to leaking flammables is very tricky. The entire evacuation would have to be through the left exits which could cause chaos and more injuries during the exit and the risk of fire spreading below the aircraft which they could not see. As the aircraft was on ground with fire services responding I think it was better to remain inside until the fire was under control.
Is there cabin crew stationed at the overwing exit on the 77W? You want to think twice before opening an exit in case of fire, and a panicked passenger might act too quick.

KLflyerRalph

Additionally, the Montreal Convention specifically precludes claims for purely psychological injury, i.e. psychological injury not caused/tied to any bodily injury sustained during an incident.

iluvcruising2

This video footage gives you a better idea of how fast (or how slow, depending on your perspective) the Changi Airport fire service responded.

Notice the video started as the plane was about to stop on the runway. The fire engines can be seen charging out. From the time the plane came to a stop, to the time the first fire engine started spraying foam to fight the fire from the front of the plane, it was 1 minute. Within seconds, more and more fire engine attacked the fire with foam, including another engine from the rear of the plane. In total, it took 2 minutes to get the fire under control.

Awesom Andy

Based on the flight path available, they flew past HKT, PEN, and KUL. All of which are capable of handling emergencies. All of which have runways at least 3km in length. All of which have international customs facilities available, (although this one would be down at the bottom of the list of priorities).

invisible

My question is - were doors on the opposite side of the fire already opened by the time fire crews arrived or not? What is the procedure on this matter? Recent case in LAS - when captain ordered evacuation - how fast the decision was made?

Globalist

Basically looked at the same questions.

In this case the captain was right but only with hindsight as the fire was contained and no one got injured. An extremely good job and outcome from everyone involved.

That said, from my armchair view this could have easily turned into a disaster and when that would have happened the captain would have most certainly be blamed for losing precious minutes of evacuation time.

If I was a risk averse captain I would have risked a few broken bones versus the other option of fire spreading and people dying in flames or smoke.

I hope questions will be asked, I would like to understand the thought process even if it was for my own reassurance as a passenger.

Globalist

Silver Fox

Thanks for providing a very elaborate explanation as to why you disagree. Oh.....hang on.....something's missing.......

invisible

Remembering Aseana's crash at SFO - I have a feeling that similar mentality was leading to this decision...

AntonS

IMHO, the crew should be fired and SQ fined for not evacuating.