SIA San Francisco-Singapore flight cancelled after plane wing 'makes contact' with another aircraft on the ground

SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from San Francisco to Singapore was cancelled on Wednesday (Nov 3) after the wing of the plane made contact with another aircraft on the ground.

SQ33 from San Francisco to Singapore had been scheduled to depart at 9.50pm local time on Wednesday (12.50pm on Thursday, Singapore time).

Flightradar24 showed the aircraft leaving and returning to its gate between 9.39pm and 10.27pm.

In response to CNA's queries, an SIA spokesperson said: “On Wednesday, Nov 3, 2021, the wing of a Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 aircraft that was taxiing for departure from San Francisco International Airport made contact with another aircraft on the ground.

“The SIA A350-900 returned safely to the gate for inspections, and there were no injuries to the crew or the passengers on board the aircraft.”

The flight was cancelled and engineers conducted checks on the aircraft, the spokesperson said.

SIA has provided assistance to passengers affected by the cancellation, arranging overnight hotel stays and re-accommodating them on the SQ33 service scheduled to depart at 9.50pm local time on Thursday.

That flight took off at 10.11pm and is on its way to Singapore, according to tracking data on Flightradar24 and FlightAware.

“Singapore Airlines would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson said, adding that the airline is unable to provide further comment as investigations into the incident are ongoing.