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The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has launched an investigation into the June 27 SIA Boeing 777 fire at Singapore Changi Airport. CAAS’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau will lead the probe “and will get to the bottom of the matter,” Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said. The 777-300ER, operating as flight SQ368, was en route from Singapore to Milan, but turned back to Singapore two hours after taking off when pilots saw indications of an engine oil leak, according to Lee and CAAS. Upon landing at 0650 local time June 27, the aircraft’s right GE Aviation GE90-115B engine caught fire. As 222 passengers and 19 crew remained on board, Changi airport emergency services extinguished the fire within 5 minutes, according to CAAS. All 241 people on board were then safely disembarked, CAAS and SIA said. “GE has dispatched technical representatives to the scene to support the airline and investigators,” GE Aviation spokesperson Rick Kennedy said. “GE continually monitors and analyzes the more than 2,000 GE90-115B engines in airline service and we are not aware of any issues that would hazard the safe flight of aircraft powered by this engine.”<br/>

Lufthansa will roll out satellite-based broadband onboard short-haul flights starting from October, it said on Monday. Airlines across the world are moving to satellite-based Internet services, prompting a scramble for customers by communication providers. The technology on board the Lufthansa flights is being provided in cooperation with partner Inmarsat and its Global Xpress network. Lufthansa says its fleet of narrow-body A320 planes is expected to have the technology installed by mid-2018, while other Lufthansa Group airlines will follow at a later date. Lufthansa already offers broadband onboard all its 107 Lufthansa-branded long-haul aircraft.<br/>