No Fire in Cockpit of South African Airways Flight to Washington, Says Airline

South African Airways has denied reports that there was a fire in the cockpit of one of its planes flying on Sunday from Johannesburg to Washington via Ghana, but said the plane had experienced “a technical problem” that forced it to return to Accra.

“Contrary to reports on social media and other platforms, SAA would like to reiterate that there was no fire in the cockpit,” the airline said in a statement on Tuesday. “No one was injured and the aircraft made an air-turn back and landed safely in Accra with all 223 passengers on board and the operating crew.”

One of the passengers on the plane, SA 209, American R&B singer Deborah Cox, was on her way from Ghana to Washington. She tweeted after the incident, “So disappointed in South African airlines. After 3 hours delay on the plane to take care of a damaged door, they still insisted on flying the damaged plane which later had to turn back around to Accra. Concern for our safey? None.”

Another passenger, Sharmla Chetty, wrote on Twitter, “Emergency landing SA209. On our way to Washington DC. Smoke in the cockpit. SAA thank you for quick landing.”

SAA said in its statement that while on the ground in Accra, an aircraft door was damaged by a catering truck operated by one of the airline’s service providers. The door was fixed and found to be working properly.

“After refuelling, the aircraft took off at approximately 03h13 UTC but soon returned to the airport in Accra when the cockpit crew noticed that the aircraft was experiencing a technical problem, which was detected in the cockpit,” SAA said.

In Accra it was decided to keep the plane grounded and put the passengers up in a hotel, while a replacement aircraft was sent from Johannesburg. The replacement plane picked up the passengers on Monday and landed in Washington early Tuesday.