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Another Qantas passenger plane is forced to reverse and make an emergency landing after pilots reported mechanical problems – the sixth incident for the airline in just two weeks.
- A Qantas plane flying from Sydney was returned
- The plane landed safely just after 5 pm on Sunday.
A QantasLink flight from Sydney to Coffs Harbor was delayed after experiencing an undercarriage problem, following a series of similar problems for the airline.
Approximately 10 minutes into the flight, the pilot requested clearance to turn around and return to Sydney Airport, landing safely just after 5pm on Sunday.
Earlier this month, a Qantas plane en route from Auckland to Sydney issued an emergency advisory after an engine failed on the Tasman. While, just a day later, another Fiji-bound flight had to turn around due to a ‘mechanical problem’, with both planes also arriving safely.
A QantasLink flight from Sydney to Coffs Harbor turned around after 10 minutes on Sunday afternoon due to a problem with the landing gear (file image)
Qantas’ national chief executive, Andrew David, previously downplayed the problems, saying the airline was averaging only about 60 returns a year out of 10,000 across the industry.
He added that an estimated 400 to 500 engines a year on all narrow-body jets worldwide are shut down, and that Qantas’ 737 shutdown rate was “well below the industry average.”
“It’s important to put these things in context. In aviation, there are air diversions and air returns every day for a variety of reasons,” he said.