New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) is probing an incident in which the tail of a Singapore Airlines (SIA) Boeing 747-400 scraped the runway during take-off from Auckland Airport on 12 March. The incident occurred around 15:20 and led to the 10-year-old aircraft (9V-SMT) making an emergency landing at Auckland 30min later. None of the passengers or crew on flight SQ286 to Singapore was injured. SIA says the tailscrape caused "damage to the area around the APU doors", but denies reports of a fire. "The examination of the tail shows no obvious signs of fire," says TAIC chief executive John Britton. "There is substantial damage to the underside of the aircraft", he adds.
Source: Flight International
