One day after a Sydney-bound plane had to have an emergency landing, it has been reported that two more Qantas aircrafts had to turn back shortly after taking off from Melbourne.
The first flight QF430 departed Melbourne at 9:30am on Friday, but was forced to come back mid-flight after a minor engine issue, according to Sky News.
Another 10:30am flight QF116 headed for Canberra had to turn back after experiencing issues with the flaps of the plane.
Luckily, both flights landed safely in Melbourne and customers were able to be re-accommodated on other flights.
This comes after a flight headed to Sydney had to make an emergency landing after one of its engines failed an hour before it was due to arrive at Sydney airport.
Neil Morris, a passenger on the plane, detailed what happened on the flight to The Today Show.
“I didn’t hear a bang but there was a major jolt and the plane banked mid-flight,” he said.
“I think everyone was immediately aware there was something happening.”
Morris said that the pilot didn’t let on that there was an issue with the plane until the plane (with 145 passengers on it) was taxiing on the tarmac.
“The pilot said, ‘We had an issue mid-flight. We lost some functions with one of the engines and we’re going to land on the field so that emergency services can take a look at the engine,’ so that’s what we did,” he said.
While flying over New Zealand, the Qantas flight sent a mayday alert. However, the mayday alert was downgraded to “possible assistance needed” (PAN) and the plane was able to land safely where paramedics and firetrucks were waiting to assist.
Well, looks like I’ll just be walking from Melb to Syd from now on.
