Singapore flight to Australia turns back with 2 fighter jet escorts after bomb threat
- Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said two F-15SG planes were scrambled to escort the Scoot flight back to Changi Airport
- Budget airline Scoot said it was assisting the authorities with their investigation, while a runway was closed and other flights delayed
Singapore’s air force and emergency services were activated on Thursday to escort a Scoot flight back to the city state’s Changi Airport after a bomb threat, the budget airline said.
A “precautionary” decision was made to turn back the Perth-bound flight about an hour into the journey “due to a bomb threat”, Scoot said in an emailed statement, without providing details of the threat.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post that two F-15SG fighter planes were scrambled to escort the Scoot flight back to Changi Airport.
The flight had landed in Singapore as of 6:27pm local time (1027 GMT) where security checks were carried out, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines Group said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said one runway was closed for about an hour “to facilitate ground operations”, with eight arriving flights and six departures experiencing some delay because of the incident.
“Scoot is assisting the authorities with their investigations. As this is a security matter, we regret that we are unable to provide further details,” a spokesperson said, according to local media.