After thorough inspection, Singapore Airlines’ A330-300 double engine failure remains a mystery

Mystery still surrounds the reason why a Singapore Airlines (SIA) Airbus A330-300 suffered a double engine failure while flying over the South China Sea at an altitude of 39,000ft. The aircraft, registered as 9V-SSF and operating flight SQ836, was carrying 182 passengers and 12 crew, having departed Changi Airport just before 5:30 p.m. local time on May 26th and was en route from Singapore to Shanghai. Radar reports show the location of the incident as being subject to major tropical storm activity and SIA issued a statement saying that ““The aircraft encountered bad weather at 39,000 feet, about three-and-a-half hours after departure.” The aircraft was fitted with Trent engines from Rolls-Royce and had only recently joined the SIA fleet, having been delivered two months ago after originally being handed over to the leasing company by Airbus.
Details from the flight trace have revealed that the crew spent nearly thirty minutes trying to restart the engines while the aircraft descended by some 13,000 feet – gliding at a descent rate of approximately 1,500 meters per second. At an altitude of 26,000ft the crew successfully managed to restart both engines. SIA confirmed in a statement that “Both engines experienced a temporary loss of power and the pilots followed operational procedures to restore normal operation of the engines.” Subsequent to this the aircraft continued its flight without any further incident taking place, landing at Shanghai at around 11pm local time.
SIA also confirmed that “The aircraft’s two Rolls-Royce engines were thoroughly inspected and tested upon arrival in Shanghai and no anomalies detected,” adding that they would be reviewing the event with the help of both Airbus and Rolls-Royce. After a thorough inspection the flight then completed the return leg of its journey back to Singapore.