On May 5, Singapore Airlines flight SQ16 to San Francisco was forced to make an emergency stop during takeoff at Incheon International Airport when Korean Air flight KE929 (Airbus A330-200) to St Petersburg (Russia) was crossing the runway without permission.
The Singapore Airlines flight, with 186 people on board, was accelerating for take off at 5:50 p.m. When the Singapore Airlines flight was travelling at 90~100 km/h, a Korean Air Airbus flight, with 188 on board, unexpectedly taxied onto the runway.
The controller ordered the two flights to stop immediately; the Singapore Airlines managed to make an emergency stop, shredding the tires during braking. When the two flights stopped, the distance between the two was only 1.7km.
The damaged tires of the Singapore plane delayed departure for 19 hours. After repairs, the Singapore Airlines flight took off again on May 6 at 1.p.m. while Korean flight KE929 left for Saint Petersburg soon after what could have been a terrible disaster.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is investigating and will release its report in two to three weeks. The pilots of the Korean Air Airbus flight are known to have ignored controller instructions.
