[ad_1]
Qantas flight to London is forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan
- The flight was headed to London from Singapore before emergency landing
- There are 356 passengers travelling on-board the plane and they were removed
- The QF1 flight departed from Sydney on Friday to arrive at Heathrow Airport
- Qantas said pilots were alerted to ‘potential smoke’ in the cargo hold
- Airline has since confirmed there was no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold
A Qantas flight carrying 356 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing in central Asia after pilots were alerted to ‘potential smoke’ in the cargo hold.
The QF1 flight departed from Sydney to land in London’s Heathrow Airport with a stopover in Singapore on Friday.
However, the flight called in a 7700 emergency signal while flying over Georgia some nine and a half hours after it left Singapore.
The A380 aircraft, the world’s biggest passenger carrier, requires very specific airport conditions and was cleared to land in Baku’s Heydar Aliyev Airport in Azerbaijan.
QF1 made the unscheduled landing at Baku Airport en route to Heathrow after an intermittent fault indicator lit up in the cockpit (pictured, the Qantas airplane forced to land)
The plane was met by an emergency fire crew upon landing at about 7am local time.
A Qantas spokesperson said: ‘The aircraft intermittently alerted the pilots to the potential of smoke in the cargo hold.
‘Although it was considered likely to be a sensor fault, the aircraft diverted to Baku as a safety precaution. Initial investigations have found no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold.
‘We thank customers for their patience and we are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.’
A flight plan has been lodged for Baku to London which suggests it could be grounded until 4pm local time – meaning passengers face a seven-hour delay.
The plane was met by an emergency fire crew upon landing at about 7am local time (pictured, Heydar Aliyev Airport in Baku, Azerbaijani)
Qantas is considered one of the world’s safest airlines without a fatal crash in more than 70 years.
Friday’s incident is not Qantas’ first run-in with the A380 aircraft.
In November 2010, a A380 Qantas flight from London to Sydney via Singapore was forced to make an emergency landing in Indonesia after one of its engines failed.
The fault occurred just four minutes after the plane had left Singapore and the failure was the first of its kind for the large plane.
Advertisement
[ad_2]
Source link
