Singapore Airlines 737 MAX suffers double tyre burst at Kuala Lumpur, disrupting flights

Quick summary

A Singapore Airlines Boeing 737 MAX operating flight SQ114 suffered a double tyre burst on its left main landing gear while landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) at approximately 1:27 PM on June 13. All 147 passengers and eight crew members disembarked safely, but the aircraft was immobilised on the runway for nearly six hours, forcing closure of one of KUL’s three runways during the evening peak and triggering the cancellation of return flight SQ113 to Singapore.

The affected runway reopened at 7:40 PM, but schedule recovery is not instant — crew duty limits, aircraft rotation knock-ons, and the ongoing inspection of the incident aircraft mean disruption on the SIN–KUL shuttle is likely to persist through the next 24–48 hours. The incident aircraft returned to Singapore the following morning as non-scheduled ferry flight SQ9105.

A tyre failure on landing is not a crash — but at a major hub during evening peak, it does not need to be. Singapore Airlines flight SQ114 touched down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on June 13 with both tyres on its left main landing gear already deflated, bringing a Boeing 737-8 MAX to a halt near the runway midpoint and setting off a chain of disruption that closed one of KUL’s three runways for close to six hours.

The airline confirmed all 155 people on board — 147 passengers and eight crew — were bussed safely to the terminal. The aircraft was towed to a remote parking bay at around 7:15 PM. The runway reopened at 7:40 PM, but by then the damage to the evening schedule was done.

Singapore Airlines cancelled the return sector, SQ113, because the aircraft needed additional repair time. Affected passengers received hotel accommodation and were rebooked on alternative services. The incident jet eventually returned to Singapore the next morning as non-scheduled flight SQ9105, arriving at approximately 11:18 AM on June 14, and has since resumed normal operations.

For travelers with SIN–KUL bookings in the next 48 hours, the immediate question is not whether the runway is open — it is — but whether the ripple effects through aircraft rotations and crew scheduling have fully cleared.

What the runway closure actually did to KUL’s evening schedule

KUL operates three runways, which sounds like redundancy — until one is blocked by a stranded jet during the busiest flying window of the day. With the affected runway closed from 1:27 PM and officially flagged as potentially unavailable until 9 PM, the airport funnelled arrivals and departures onto its two remaining strips. The airport operator issued a travel advisory at 6:35 PM warning of delays and directing airlines to a filed aviation notice.

That compression matters more than it looks. KUL’s evening bank is dense with regional connections — Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, and multiple international carriers all schedule inbound feeders timed to catch onward departures. When arrival spacing tightens, inbound aircraft hold longer, crews approach duty-time limits faster, and outbound gates back up. Some of those effects persist well past runway reopening.

Official statements confirm the incident is under review. Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau previously investigated a comparable event — tyre damage on landing involving a Boeing 737-8 MAX at Changi Airport on December 3, 2021 — and published a formal final report classifying it as an incident. That precedent signals the likely regulatory pathway for this KUL event, with Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Authority and Air Accident Investigation Bureau expected to lead the primary investigation.

Why this incident will draw closer scrutiny than a routine tyre failure

Tyre bursts on landing are not rare events in commercial aviation — they happen across aircraft types and operators worldwide. What makes this one worth watching is the combination of aircraft type, airline, and regulatory context.

Singapore Airlines has operated the 737 MAX under close oversight since Singapore lifted its own grounding of the type. When the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore cleared the MAX to return to service, it required Singapore Airlines pilots to complete additional training — a condition that reflects how seriously regional regulators treated the type’s history. A second tyre-damage incident on a 737-8 MAX operated by the same carrier, at a neighbouring country’s primary hub, will not go unnoticed by either the Singaporean or Malaysian authorities.

The 2021 Changi incident produced a formal TSIB report. Expect Malaysia’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau to pursue a similar process here, and watch for whether the findings overlap — repeated tyre-damage patterns on the same aircraft type tend to generate fleet-wide recommendations, not just operator-specific ones. That is the signal worth tracking, not the incident itself.

This incident also adds to a difficult recent period for Singapore Airlines safety scrutiny — the airline’s SQ321 turbulence disaster investigation found that a weather radar fault cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor, a finding that has already sharpened regulatory attention on the carrier’s technical operations.

Steps to protect your trip in the next 48 hours

KUL’s runways are fully operational again, but aircraft rotations and crew scheduling on the SIN–KUL shuttle have not fully normalised — any booking touching this corridor in the next two days carries elevated delay risk.

• Check SQ114/SQ113 status now: Use the Manage Booking section on singaporeair.com or the Singapore Airlines mobile app. If your flight shows a schedule change, proactively request same-day reaccommodation to an earlier or later departure — do not wait for the airline to contact you.
• Protect short connections at KUL: If your onward connection at KUL is under two hours, flag it with the operating carrier before departure. Under its contract of carriage, Singapore Airlines must rebook you on missed connections if you hold a single through-ticket — but you need to be at the transfer desk, not in the queue at the gate.
• New bookings this week — avoid late evening banks: Mid-day departures on high-frequency carriers (Singapore Airlines, Scoot, AirAsia) give you recovery options if delays persist. Last-bank evening flights into KUL leave no fallback if your inbound is late.
• Transit passengers — monitor KLIA screens actively: Use the Malaysia Airports flight information page and terminal displays for gate or time changes. Irregular operations trigger last-minute swaps; head to your gate early and approach the airline’s transfer desk immediately if your onward flight is cancelled or delayed overnight.
• Check your credit card travel benefits: If your fare was charged to an Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or similar premium card, trip delay and cancellation protections may apply for delays exceeding six hours. File claims through your card’s benefits portal with airline delay documentation and receipts.

Watch: Malaysia’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau preliminary report — if issued within the standard 30-day window, it signals a routine investigation pathway. If delayed or if findings reference systemic tyre-wear patterns on the 737 MAX type, expect broader scrutiny of the aircraft’s regional operations and potential schedule adjustments by Singapore Airlines.

Questions? Answers.