'Truly upsetting': SIA passengers stuck in cabin for over 7 hours after Sapporo-Singapore flight turns back
Hundreds of passengers were left stranded onboard a Singapore Airlines flight for over seven hours when it was told to turn back shortly after take off. SIA flight SQ661 was originally scheduled to depart from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido at 9.30am (8.30am Singapore time) and arrive in Singapore at 5.05pm on Jan 10. However, the flight was delayed until 10.33am and 50 minutes after it took off, it was told to return to the airport, reported Shin Min Daily News. A passenger, who gave her name as Taylor, said the plane departed at around 10.30am before passengers were told about 55 minutes later that it would turn back to the airport, reported Mothership.Taylor said that SIA cited technical issues for the turnaround and that the plane «might be able to fly by 1.15pm». «1:15pm came and went, and at 2:15pm we were finally told our plane would no longer be able to take off,» added Taylor. He recalled that some passengers only disembarked the plane after 5pm as they had to wait for buses to bring them to the main terminal.