Qantas plane makes emergency landing in Bangkok

[Vultan]

Qantas plane makes emergency landing in Bangkok

A Qantas Airways Boeing 747 is seen parked at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport January 26, 2011. A Qantas Airways Boeing 747 plane was forced to turn back to Bangkok and make an emergency landing due to ''technical problems,'' a Bangkok-based air traffic controller said on Wednesday. Credit: Reuters/Sukree Sukplang

BANGKOK | Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:15am EST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Qantas Airways Ltd Boeing 747 plane was forced to turn back to Bangkok and make an emergency landing due to "technical problems," a Bangkok-based air traffic controller said on Wednesday.

The Sydney-bound flight carrying 354 passengers and 18 crew members left Bangkok on Tuesday evening and returned to the Thai capital about two hours later, said a Qantas spokeswoman in Bangkok.

An air traffic controller in Bangkok said the pilot sent a message to request landing in Bangkok, citing "technical problems." It was unclear what caused the problem, the Qantas spokeswoman said.

"Qantas is investigating what happened. We do not know whether it was a mechanical problem," the spokeswoman said, adding that the passengers will take a different plane to Sydney on Thursday morning.

A mid-air engine explosion in a Qantas A380 last year grounded Qantas' fleet of the superjumbos and shook confidence in the national flag carrier.

(Reporting by Ambika Ahuja and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Jason Szep)

 

[zuoom]

another one??

 

[Windsor]

I understand it was due to cabin depressurisation from a malfunctioning airconditioning system of one side of the cabin. Seems another bad start to 2011 for Qantas again.

 

[Windsor]

Apparently a few hours later another B747 had to land in Bangkok due to an engine malfunction.

Qantas denies problems after new engine incident
January 26, 2011 - 2:42PM

A Qantas plane suffering engine troubles has been forced to turn back to Bangkok, hours after another plane descended 8000 metres after cabin depressurisation.

But the airline has denied its experiencing systemic maintenance problems.

"It's certainly very frustrating because passengers are being affected," Qantas spokesman Tom Woodward said.
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"We spend $4.4 billion in maintenance a year; we don't see there are systematic maintenance issues."

Passengers will spend Australia Day stranded in Bangkok after a Sydney-bound Qantas jet experienced midair engine problems about 5.45pm local time (9.45pm AEST) yesterday.

The flight crew spotted the problem shortly after take-off.

"One of the engines was consuming fuel more quickly than normal," Mr Woodward said.

"Following procedure they took the precautionary decision to return to Bangkok to have the engine inspected."

The troubled Boeing 747 returned to Bangkok just after 7pm local time

Mr Woodward said another plane would collect the 352 passengers tomorrow.

"We're going to need to replace the engine so we're sending an aircraft up from Sydney today carrying a replacement engine," he told today.

"That aircraft will probably be used to accommodate all the passengers."

The jet will arrive in Bangkok at 1am local time (5am AEST) and will return to Sydney tomorrow afternoon.

"It's very significant delay," Mr Woodward said.

"If we can accommodate some passengers on other airlines we'll try. Ultimately they should be back in Sydney tomorrow afternoon."

Yesterday's incident is the latest in a shocking run for the national carrier.

It came hours after a Qantas jet flying to Melbourne from Adelaide made an emergency descent, dropping 8000 metres, after its cabin lost pressure.

In November, one of the four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines on an Airbus A380 exploded midair soon after take-off from Singapore, prompting Qantas to ground its entire A380 fleet.

This cost of this, together with replacing 16 of the A380 engines, has been estimated at $80 million.

The day after the A380 accident, a Qantas 747-400 had a midair incident, with flames bursting from an engine just after take-off from Singapore.

AAP