SQ crew allegedly went shopping, got held by HK airport, flight delayed for 3 hrs

Some netizens speculated that they might be buying portable wifi routers.

Kayla Wong | March 06, 2018, 01:40 PM

The Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ861 was delayed for around 3 hrs in Hong Kong on Feb 26.

Screenshot via Flightera.net

Netizens' speculations

Netizens speculated on the reason for the delay on WeChat, a popular Chinese social media platform, as well as a blog.

The speculations, which were circulated on Chinese aggregator websites, go like this:

  • Five crew members went out of transit area and to another terminal to buy portable wifi routers.
  • On their way back, one of them forgot their security pass.
  • As Hong Kong International Airport considered this incident as a breach of security, passengers and crew members who were already onboard the flight had to disembark for another security screening.
  • As a result, the flight was held up for around 3 hrs.

Here are some of the netizens' reactions to these speculations.

Screenshot via Bohtong.org

Screenshot via Bohtong.org

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SIA's official statement

We've reached out to SIA, and asked them to confirm whether the speculations from netizens were true.

Here's their official statement:

"Flight SQ861 from Hong Kong to Singapore was delayed on 26 February 2018 as some of our cabin crew members operating the flight were required to assist airport authorities in an investigation.

This resulted in additional security screenings, which required the passengers to disembark from the aircraft.

After the checks were completed, the crew members were allowed to operate the flight and passengers re-boarded before the flight departed Hong Kong at around 1820hrs local time."

Top image via Singapore Airlines

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