Passengers have praised Singapore Airlines crew for the professional and calm manner in which they dealt with an oil fire.

The Singapore Airlines 777 was on a flight from Singapore to Milan with 222 passengers aboard when it was forced to turn back because of a reported oil leak.

On landing the oil – which had leaked along the wing - caught fire and was put out by fire crews within 5 minutes.

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Nobody on board was hurt and the cabin remained very quiet through the ordeal.

However what is not clear is why an immediate evacuation was not called and this will form part of the investigation. 

SIA said in a statement that an engine oil warning forced the flight to turn back.

"The aircraft's right engine caught fire after the aircraft touched down at Changi Airport at around 6:50am," it said.

"The fire was put out by airport emergency services and there were no injuries to the 222 passengers and 19 crew on board.

"Passengers disembarked through stairs and were transported to the terminal building by bus."

One passenger tweeted that the crew was extremely professional and very calm.

Another passenger, Lee Bee Yee, told The Straits Times that "all the passengers were surprisingly quite calm."