5 SIA incidents that could top the bird strike in ‘Sully’

Bird vs plane, who would win? If you think planes always come out on top, you’re wrong (both metaphorically and literally), because a single bird can cause the downfall of a plane if the pilot can’t wing it with a faulty engine. If you thought otherwise, then you’ve probably watched “Sully” already.

Birds can fly straight into an engine and get caught in its moving parts, causing everything to jam. At best, the engine will stall, and at worst, the engine will burst into flames and explode. That’s what caused US Airways Flight 1549 to crash into the Hudson River in real life, and in “Sully.”

But that’s the US. How about our homegrown airline, Singapore Airlines? They’ve met their fair share of accidents too, and here are five SIA incidents that could top the bird strike in “Sully.” Don’t worry though, flying is still one of the safest forms of travel, as long as you avoid birds.

Fin. (Singapore Airlines Facebook Page)

1. Flight 117 - Pakistani terrorists

In a story taken right out of GI Joe, four Pakistani terrorists hijacked Flight 117 on 26 March, 1991, while flying from Malaysia to Singapore. They held the plane passengers when it landed for a few hours, before Singapore’s commandos stormed in and took them down in less than five minutes. With no casualties at all.

And we have the SAF to thank for that.

Cold flight. (Singapore Airlines Facebook Page)

2. Flight 006 - Crashed while taking off

Flight 006 took off at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport on 31 October, 2000, but due to poor visibility (it was raining at the time), the plane crashed into a construction machinery on a closed runway and ended up bursting into flames, resulting in 85 fatalities. If you’re wondering why the plane took off during a heavy storm, it’s actually normal for planes to leave in bad weather.

But it was a very bad accident.

Collapsed plane. (AhTan Lor’s Instagram Profile)

3. Airbus A330-300 - Collapsed at Changi Airport

If you’re wondering how a plane can collapse (they don’t stand up, after all), it’s because the nose gear of the plane was retracted while it was still on the ground. This happened on 11 October, 2015, but fortunately nobody was hurt. There was an engineer on board but he was unscathed. There were a lot of photos as everyone rushed to publicise this very odd sight on social media.

This is why you don’t press random buttons even when the plane is parked.

Parallel lines. (Singapore Airlines Facebook Page)

4. Flight 016 - Near collision at Incheon Airport

9 May this year was a normal day for Flight 016 as it was taking off when Flight KE929 suddenly loomed into its path on the runway. It managed to stop in time, but it was such a dramatic brake that all the tyres on Flight 016 were shredded. It happened because apparently, the pilots of KE929 ignored the air traffic controller’s instructions. However, they took off just 2 hours later, while our plane had a 19-hour delay as the tyres were hastily replaced.

At least all the passengers were safe.

Plane on the runway. (Singapore Airlines Facebook Page)

5. Flight 368 - Oil leak in midair

And just 2 months earlier, on 27 June, Flight 368 was on the way to Milan when there was an oil leak on the right engine. It managed to turn back and land at Changi Airport just before the right engine caught fire. Since they were on the ground already, the fire was put out safely, and nobody was injured.

But still, an oil leak in midair? What could have caused that?

Despite these mishaps, SIA pilots have been able to keep their passengers safe and out of harm’s way (for most cases), so we want to emphasise once again that flying really is the safest way to travel.

Have you heard of any airplane incidents comparable to the one in “Sully?”

Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcusand writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.