A Singapore Airlines flight bound for Tokyo was forced to divert to Taipei following a cracked windshield. Here is what we know about the story so far.

Sudden Crack

On October 27th, Singapore Airlines' Flight SQ636 was operating a scheduled service from Singapore Changi (SIN) to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). There were 249 passengers and 17 crewmembers onboard.

The aircraft operating was a 17-year-old Boeing 777-300ER registered 9V-SWI. This aircraft is one of a handful painted in the "Star Alliance" livery.

SQ636 departed Singapore as normal and the flight was running smoothly with a cruising altitude of 36,000 feet. As the aircraft was passing Taiwan, it was toward the latter half of the flight that part of the cockpit windshield suddenly cracked.

Given that the aircraft was passing Taiwan, the decision was made to divert to Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), where the flight landed safely.

A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines noted that hotel accommodations were arranged for the passengers wherever necessary.

Furthermore, the spokesperson expressed Singapore Airlines' sincere apologies for the inconvenience, adding that the safety of its customers and crew is always a top priority.

The incident aircraft, 9V-SWI, was ferried back to Singapore later that day. There was supposed to be a replacement aircraft to operate flight SQ9876 onwards to Haneda. However, as of the time of writing this article, that flight has not yet departed at the time previously communicated.

SQ9876 was due to depart around 8:30 pm local time on October 28th. However, that flight has not departed just yet despite it now being October 29th.

String of Incidents

Singapore Airlines is consistently ranked among the world's best airlines. Its hub airport, Changi, was once again named the world's best airport. However, in recent history, the carrier has experienced a small amount of mishaps.

Most infamously in 2024, a Singapore Airlines 777-300ER encountered severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal while flying from London to Singapore. 104 of the 229 occupants were injured with one passenger unfortunately passing away.

Back in August, a Singapore Airlines 787-10 experienced a technical issue with one of its brakes upon landing at Tokyo Narita Airport causing smoke to billow from the tires. This was a minor issue and the aircraft was soon repaired.