It has emerged that a Boeing 777 has been stuck in Hurghada, Egypt for around three months. Why? Let’s explore.
Following an incident that occurred to this aircraft, an investigation was opened, leaving some questions to be answered.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Southwind Flight SM908 – Yekaterinburg-Hurghada…
The affected Boeing 777 was Southwind Airlines flight SM908, which operated a flight between Yekaterinburg and Hurghada, Egypt on December 23.
Such a rotation was operated by an aircraft registered as TC-GRU.
As per data from Planespotters.net, TC-GRU is a 18.9 year old Boeing 777-312 aircraft.
It started out life originally with Singapore Airlines back in May 2005, before being sent to Boeing Capital Corporation.
Furthermore, in January 2022, it was sent to Sky One FZE and then onto Southwind Airlines in December 2023.
This means that the airline only had the aircraft for around two months before this incident in Egypt occurred.
Southwind flight SM908 departed Yekaterinburg at 0722 local time on December 23.
It proceeded southbound towards Hurghada and everything was normal.
However, as per reporting from The Aviation Herald, the Boeing 777 suffered a left-hand engine failure on approach.
From there, the crew aborted the landing and entered a series of holds to get the aircraft under control.
It then landed safe without incident at 1042 local time.
Will It Ever Leave Egypt?
It is unclear whether the aircraft will ever leave Egypt, considering it has been grounded for three months.
Investigatory body BFU, based in Germany, are assigned to the investigation as the engine was made in their country.
Furthermore, it is unclear whether the aircraft is grounded because of the investigation or not.
There is also the possibility that because it has been doing flights into Russia, it could be subjected to sanctions.
However, all eyes will be on the outcome of the investigation, as well as whether it will ever become airworthy again.
Overall…
In conclusion, this incident is very unique in the sense that the aircraft has remained grounded for so long following this.
Looking ahead, all eyes will turn to the BFU to see what comes from the investigative report.
Furthermore, it will be interesting to see whether a spare engine can be assigned to the Boeing 777.
Because if not, it will remain in Hurghada, Egypt for even longer than it already has been.
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