An A320 plane carrying Singapore passengers onboard Scoot - Tiger Air flight TR2934 made an emergency landing today in Meilan International Airport, Nanhai, China after the plane detected that one of its landing gear tyres had exploded after take off.
According to eye witnesses, the majority of the passengers on the plane were tourists from Singapore who were on their way to Haikou, China, for a 6 day tour.
One of the passengers recalled that about 40 minutes before the plane was due to land in the PRC airport, the captain announced that the plane was suffering from a technical problem and informed passengers to fasten their safety belts and remain seated.
The pilots then tried to make an emergency landing 3 times in succession but could not do so. By this time, the frightened passengers were wailing and fearing for their lives.
The plane managed to make a safe landing only on its 4th try.
According to the tour guide of a 40 strong Singaporean tour group on board, she said that although the passengers could clearly see the city of Haikou from the plane windows, the plane kept resisting the pilot's attempts to land.
Meilan airport authorities have announced that investigations would be conducted into the incident.