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Another Qantas passenger jet is forced to turn back and make an emergency landing after pilots reported mechanical issues – the sixth incident for the airline in just two weeks
- A Qantas plane flying out of Sydney has been turned back
- The plane landed safely just after 5pm on Sunday
- The carrier has had a run of flights diversions in the past fortnight
A QantasLink flight from Sydney to Coffs Harbour has been turned back after experiencing a landing gear problem, following a run of similar issues for the carrier.
About 10 minutes into the flight the pilot asked for clearance to turn around and return to Sydney Airport, landing safely just after 5pm on Sunday.
Earlier this month, a Qantas plane travelling from Auckland to Sydney issued a mayday after one engine failed over the Tasman. While, just a day later, another flight headed for Fiji had to turn around due to a ‘mechanical issue’, with both planes also arriving safely.
A QantasLink flight from Sydney to Coffs Harbour (pictured) turned around after 10 minutes on Sunday afternoon due to a landing gear issue
The incident is the sixth plane turnback for Qantas over two weeks (pictured: the plane after landing safely)
Then on January 20, two Qantas planes departing from Melbourne were forced to turn around within minutes of each other due to mechanical issues – the fourth incident in three days for the airline.
Flight QF1516 from Melbourne to Canberra turned-back on Friday morning after pilots noticed an issue with the flaps of the Boeing 717 aircraft.
The plane took off from Melbourne Airport at 10.10am and was in the sky for just 17 minutes before it circled back and landed at 10.27am.
Within minutes, passengers on flight QF430 from Melbourne to Sydney were separately alerted to a ‘minor engine issue’ and that plane was turned around.
The Boeing 737 aircraft took off from Tullamarine Airport at 9.28am before completing a large loop and returning just 50 minutes later at 10.18am.
Qantas domestic chief executive Andrew David previously downplayed the issues, saying the airline averaged only about 60 turnbacks a year out of 10,000 across the industry.
He added there were an estimated 400 to 500 engine shutdowns a year across all narrow body jet aircraft around the world, and Qantas’ shutdown rate on the 737 was ‘well below the industry average’.
‘It’s important to put these things in context. Across aviation, there are diversions and air turn backs happening every day for a range of reasons,’ he said.
The QantasLink flight taxied back to Sydney Airport (pictured) where passengers had boarded minutes earlier
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