A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from Melbourne to the Republic was forced to return to Melbourne Airport due to a technical problem that arose during flight on Wednesday, October 29.
Shortly after takeoff, Flight SQ228 returned to the Australian airport, and the national carrier said in a media response that it had dumped fuel to land within the landing weight.
However, details of the problem encountered on board were not disclosed by the airline.
According to SIA, the Boeing 777, which was carrying 219 passengers and 17 crew members, landed without incident on Wednesday at 5:47 pm local time (2:47 pm Singapore time). The flight had departed at 4.35 pm local time.
It also stated that all crew members and passengers disembarked as planned.
While the airline's ground engineering team works to fix the problem, the passengers were given meal vouchers, according to SIA.
"SIA sincerely apologises to all affected customers for any inconvenience caused," it said, adding, "The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority."
The plane circled around the north of the Australian city before returning to the airport, according to flight data website Flightradar24.
One Australian media outlet that covered the flight diversion showed the plane landing at the airport without incident.
"Shortly after take-off, the flight made the decision to return to Melbourne Airport due to a technical issue," a Melbourne Airport spokesmen told 7News.
"The plane landed under normal conditions... before taxiing safely to the gate," the spokesmen added.
The plane was flying low over the eastern suburbs when witnesses called Melbourne news and talk station 3AW.
"It just flew over our house a few minutes ago. It was so low, you could see wheels down and I just waved at all the passengers as they went overhead. I've never seen a plane that low before. It was scary," said a caller who identified himself as Sam, as reported by The Straits Times.
Another caller named Gordon was quoted by ST as saying, "We saw it do a turn really low and I looked it up, it was at (2km above us) dumping fuel and, yeah, redirecting back to Melbourne."
A video of the Boeing 777 aircraft flying with two white smoky trails coming from the wings was shared on social media by a number of users.
Facebook user All Areas Chauffeur Services posted a video of the plane and wrote, "Was outside mowing the grass and heard a loud plane... Zooming in you can see half of the landing gear has failed to retract, I'm wondering if this was the issue?"
It takes roughly seven hours and forty-five minutes to fly directly from Melbourne to Singapore on average.
