Changi Airport was forced to close one of its two runways for about 51/2 hours yesterday after a single-seater South Korean aircraft taking part in the Singapore Airshow 2018 skidded and caught fire while taking off.
The accident at about 1.30pm resulted in flight delays, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded.
The T-50 aircraft, which was part of South Korean aerobatic team The Black Eagles, was taking off for the flying display programme when it crashed onto the grass verge.
The Airport Emergency Service put out the fire, and the pilot escaped with minor injuries.
The Straits Times understands that the plane flipped over after its tyre burst as it was taking off.
The jet was removed about five hours later. This was after investigators from the Transport Ministry's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau had conducted their checks.
"In order for flight operations to resume safely, the runway will be thoroughly checked and cleaned up to ensure it is safe and ready for operations," Changi Airport Group (CAG) said in a statement on its Facebook page at 6.30pm.
The airport also apologised for the inconvenience caused.
In a media statement at 10.38pm, CAG said that Runway 1 re-opened at 7pm. With the airport operating on one runway instead of two, operations were affected. About 170 flights were delayed by an hour or more, although flight operations were expected to return to normal by the end of the day.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Facebook that he was sorry to hear about the incident but was glad the South Korean pilot is safe.
One of the affected flights at Changi Airport was a Thai Airways plane that was bound for Bangkok.
Passenger Marc de Vries, 38, said he and others were already on board the 2.15pm Thai Airways flight when they were told to disembark. "The captain said at first that we had to stay in the plane for three hours due to a mishap on the runway. But 15 minutes later, we were told to get off the plane," said Mr de Vries, who runs a tyre-trading business. He was going on a business trip, and had to reschedule some of the meetings he had lined up.
He added that the passengers were given free food at the airport's foodcourt and told to return to the boarding gate at 4.30pm.
The incident also cast doubts on whether the eight-member Black Eagles team - a perennial favourite at the airshow - would be able to perform as scheduled this year.
A spokesman for Experia Events, the organiser of the airshow, said: "The Black Eagles are not scheduled to perform on Feb 7 as per the original flying display schedule. We will provide an update on the rest of their scheduled performances as soon as possible."
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