Passenger Jet Loses Power, Drops 2.5 Miles

Singapore Airlines says it's investigating how one of its jets suffered a loss of power in both of its engines over the weekend and descended 13,000 feet—nearly 2.5 miles—before regaining altitude en route from Singapore to Shanghai. The Airbus A330-300 was carrying 182 passengers and 12 crew members at 39,000 feet when the incident occurred Saturday, the airline says in a statement. The jet lost power in both engines after hitting bad weather several hours into the flight, but one engine quickly resumed normal operations, according to the statement.

"The pilots followed operational procedures to restore normal operation of the second engine by putting the aircraft into a controlled descent before climbing again," the statement says. Singapore Airlines says no "anomalies" were detected in either of the engines after the plane arrived safely in Shanghai, and it's reviewing the incident with Airbus and engine-maker Rolls-Royce. A senior pilot tells Reuters that losing power in both engines is extremely rare. "If that happens, you follow the procedures in your check-list and try to restart the engines," he says. "The pilots successfully did that here." (More Singapore Airlines stories.)