Terrified passengers feared the worst after flames erupted from the engine of a Qantas plane shortly after take-off in New Zealand.
Flight QF122 was travelling from Queenstown to Sydney on Saturday when flames and sparks were seen coming from the aircraft’s left engine.
The dramatic incident prompted the pilots to make a priority landing in Christchurch, where the aircraft landed safely about 50 minutes after leaving Queenstown. No injuries have been reported.
Footage taken from the ground appeared to show bursts of flame coming from the engine, while passengers described hearing loud bangs and seeing what appeared to be fire outside the aircraft.
“It happened around five times, so we hear bang, bang, bang and there was five times fire coming out,” passenger Krithi Sethi told the ABC from Sydney Airport after spending the night in Christchurch.
“And then the people were screaming; people were like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was quite scary.”
Qantas said the aircraft experienced a “suspected engine issue” after take-off and praised the pilots for their handling of the emergency.
New Zealand aviation authorities are understood to be examining the incident, with a bird strike reported as a possible cause of the engine problem.
QF122 passengers were transferred to alternative arrangements following the diversion, with Qantas saying its pilots were highly trained to deal with situations of this nature.
The aircraft will now be subject to further inspection as investigators work to establish exactly what caused the engine problem.
The incident comes amid a difficult period for Qantas, with the airline having been involved in several separate aviation safety incidents in recent weeks.
Just last month, two Qantas aircraft were involved in a serious runway incident at Sydney Airport, with one Qantas aircraft crossing a runway while another Qantas flight was preparing for take-off. The incident is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Another incident involving two Qantas aircraft at Sydney Airport in July has also come under scrutiny after the planes reportedly came close to one another.
Reuters has reported that internal records showed several air traffic controllers involved in the July incident had been identified as being at high risk of fatigue, amid broader concerns about staffing shortages and workload at Sydney Airport.
