HAIKOU - A SilkAir plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Haikou on Tuesday morning (June 23) due to a typhoon that made landfall on the southern island of Hainan.
MI8334, which left Singapore at around 7am, was due to arrive at Sanya Phoenix International Airport at 10am.
But strong wind conditions forced the pilot to abort an attempted landing. It then circled above the airport for an hour before a decision was made to divert to Haikou to refuel.
The aircraft, carrying mostly Singaporean passengers, landed safely in Haikou Meilan International Airport at 11am. The Straits Times understands that it is now on the runway - with all passengers onboard - awaiting futher updates on whether it can make the trip to Sanya.
Property agent Iris Chua, who is on board the flight, said the experience was quite a scary one as the plane was lurching up and down as it tried to land.
"The pilot did a good job in providing us with constant updates and trying to assure us," said the 57-year-old.
Ms Chua is part of a Singapore tour group to Hainan.
The South China Morning Post reported that Typhoon Kujira, which had been heading across the South China Sea, was the first typhoon of 2015 to hit China.
The China Meteorological Administration had issued a yellow typhoon warning - the third highest ranking of its four-level warning system - on Monday morning.
