A Qantas flight that suffered engine failure sparked a grass fire at Sydney Airport, Airservices Australia has confirmed.
The fire was adjacent to the runway and was extinguished, said Airservices Australia, which manages air traffic and aviation firefighting crews, in a statement on Friday afternoon.
Qantas flight QF520 departed Sydney Airport bound for Brisbane at about 12.15pm, but returned and landed safely at about 1pm.
The captain is said to have told passengers there was a problem with the right engine. Qantas said it conducted a preliminary inspection and has determined it was a “contained engine failure”.
“After circling for a short period of time, the aircraft landed safely at Sydney Airport,” Qantas said in a statement.
No passengers were injured.
Passengers recount experience on board QF520
ABC reporter Mark Willacy was among those on board and told the ABC that after takeoff, passengers “knew immediately that something was wrong”.
“We were taxiing out to the runway, and the pilot had turned onto the runway and given it full thrust, and we were at the end of the runway … the wheels were taking off the ground, and there was a large bang and a really jolting shudder went through the plane,” Willacy told the ABC.
He said a “disturbing” part of the incident was how the plane was “really laboured”.
“Obviously, it was trying to do a full take off on one engine, which it can do, but it was a case of not really getting the sort of altitude that you would expect when you’re taking off in a usual manner,” he said. “And so it was a real struggle to get airborne.”
Willacy said the captain told passengers there was a problem with the right engine.
There was also a grass fire at Sydney Airport, but it is not yet known whether Qantas flight QF520 caused it. Source: AAP / ABC News
Nine News producer Georgina Lewis, who was also aboard the aircraft, recounted a similar experience.
Lewis said she heard a loud bang before passengers were told an engine malfunction would force a return to the airport.
“We were going down the runway when we heard a loud bang … about 10 minutes later, the pilot came on board and said they had a problem with the right-hand engine on take-off, and they were forced to shut it down for safety reasons,” she told Sydney radio 2GB.
Qantas acknowledges ‘distressing’ experience
Qantas acknowledged the incident would have been “distressing” for passengers.
“While customers would have heard a loud bang, there was not an explosion.”
A Sydney Airport spokesperson said the departure of the flight coincided with a grass fire on the runway, which has since been brought under control.
It has not been confirmed whether it was sparked by the aircraft, but an investigation is underway.
“With the safe arrival of the aircraft, Sydney Airport’s priority is to conduct a full inspection of its parallel runway and to return it to service as quickly as possible,” the Sydney Airport spokesperson said in a statement.
“Sydney Airport’s main runway is operational, however, passengers should also expect some delays.”
These anticipated delays come after an Australia-wide outage at international airport immigration gates, which heavily affected Melbourne and Sydney airports.
The Australian Border Force said the issue was resolved at about midday, but the cause remains under investigation.
— With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
