Singapore Airlines jet plunges 13,000 feet after losing power in 'both' engines

© Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty ImagesSingapore Airlines said power was restored after the pilots ‘followed operational procedures’.

Airlines announces investigation after Airbus A330-300 carrying 194 people suffered engine failures travelling from Singapore to Shanghai

A Singapore Airlines Airbus with 182 passengers and 12 crew on boardlost power to both enginesen route to Shanghai -falling 3,962m (13,000ft) - the airline said on Wednesday as it announced an investigation into the incident.

The Airbus A330-300 flight on 23 May "encountered bad weather at 39,000 feet (11.9 km) about three and a half hours after departure" from Singapore, the airline said in a statement.

"Both engines experienced a temporary loss of power and the pilots followed operational procedures to restore normal operation of the engines," it said.

"The flight continued to Shanghai and touched down uneventfully at 10.56pm local time," it said.

It added that the Airbus A330-300 plane's two Rolls-Royce engines "were thoroughly inspected and tested upon arrival in Shanghai with no anomalies detected".

"We are reviewing the incident with Rolls-Royce and Airbus," Singapore Airlines said.

In a Twitter post late on Tuesday, Flightradar24 said the flight, codenamed SQ836, "lost power on both engines & 13,000 feet before power returned".

In a subsequent post, it said the plane "lost both engines during the cruise" while flying through a "huge storm", pinpointing an area in the South China Sea off China's southern coast where the incident occurred.

Singapore Airlines, Asia's third largest carrier by market value, currently has 29 Airbus A330-300s in its passenger fleet.

It also has a fleet of 19 Airbus A380-800 superjumbos.

The airline, along with its subsidiaries SilkAir, Scoot, and Tiger Airways, flies to 119 destinations across 35 countries.

Last week Airbus warned of a technical bug potentially affecting the engines of its A400M military planes that was discovered during an internal test after one crashed in Spain.

Comment: In April, the Serbian President's plane suffered an engine failure, sending the aircraft into a horrifying 60-second plunge over the Adriatic Sea. A few days later it was revealed that the "co-pilot had spilled coffee on the instrument panel" causing the accidental descent!

Recently a cargo plane, Carson Air Flight 66, crashed in Vancouver's North Shore Mountains following an "uncontrolled descent". According to Transportation Safety Board investigator Bill Yearwood:

"The radar track showed a very steep descent," he said. "The crew did not call, declare an emergency or have any stress, which gives us an idea that whatever happened, happened suddenly. The radar track gives us information on how fast it was descending ... and that is consistent with uncontrolled flight."

What is going on?

As well as these planes 'falling out the sky', we also have planes suddenly 'disappearing' from radar, sometimes in "unprecedented" blackouts; more planes diverting due to "electrical burning and smoke smells", "engine fires" and plane wings "bursting into flames"; statistics showing a disturbing trend in "air rage"; the tragic Germanwings crash not being the full story and the still unresolved mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370?

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Year of the planes Cluster of plane problems as 2014 comes to a close

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