A Qantas flight from Auckland has landed safely in Sydney after issuing a mayday call mid-flight due to an “extremely rare” engine failure that meant the pilot had to land with one engine.
Qantas flight 144 landed at Sydney airport about 3.30pm on Wednesday. The Boeing 737 had left Auckland an hour late about 2.30pm local time.
Flight radar data shows the plane lost altitude and speed during the flight.
After landing, the plane didn’t immediately go to a gate.
Five fire rescue vehicles attended as crews investigated the aircraft’s left engine. The plane then proceeded to a gate, with all 145 passengers ultimately disembarking normally.
While in the air, passengers onboard QF144 were told there was an issue, but they weren’t informed an engine had failed until the plane was on the ground. Most said they didn’t notice anything unusual beyond what felt like mild turbulence.
“They said there would be fire crews [at the airport] just in case but there wouldn’t be a problem,” Lesley Spree said.
Colin and Simone Schmidt said they weren’t concerned and were reassured by the professionalism of the pilots and crew. “When they mentioned it, they were very good about it. They said there was a slight malfunction that affected certain functions,” Colin Schmidt said.
‘We just heard a bang’
Passengers also reported hearing the engine “bang” mid-flight.
“At the time we didn’t realise it was actually the whole engine had gone,” one woman told the ABC. “We just heard a bang and that was it, so you don’t know.”
Another passenger said those onboard didn’t realise there was widespread concern for their flight.
“We didn’t know … that we didn’t have one engine,” the man told the ABC. “When they said you can turn on your phones, I turned on my phone and my wife had called about 18 times [asking]: ‘Have you landed? Have you landed?’”
A Qantas spokesperson said the flight “experienced an issue with one of its engines about an hour from its destination”.
“It is now due to land in Sydney around 3.30pm and, in line with standard procedure, will be met by emergency services,” the airline said before the plane landed.
QF144 on the tarmac at Sydney @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/ZZ6fbsIH3p
— Ben Doherty (@BenDohertyCorro) January 18, 2023
“While a mayday was initially issued, this has now been downgraded to a Pan (possible assistance needed). We will share more information about this incident once the aircraft is on the ground and has been assessed by our engineers.”
Qantas said engineers were inspecting the plane on Wednesday evening.
“While inflight engine shutdowns are rare, and would naturally be concerning for passengers, our pilots are trained to manage them safely and aircraft are designed to fly for an extended period on one engine.”
Mayday calls signal distress to air traffic controllers who prioritise clearing traffic to allow the affected aircraft to land as quickly as possible.
Wednesday’s incident was the second time in less than a month that a Qantas flight had an in-air emergency. On 23 December, a Qantas flight from Singapore to London was forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan due to concerns there was smoke in the cargo hold.
Pilots on that flight squawked 7700 – the same code issued on the flight from Auckland on Wednesday.
The Australian and International Pilots Association said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the engine failure.
“This type of incident is extremely rare. We are pleased the expertly trained and professional Qantas pilots took all the right steps to deal with the incident and were able to safely land back in Sydney,” the association said. “The priority of any pilot is the welfare of our passengers and crew.”
A Melbourne-based air traffic controller said mayday calls for commercial flights were rare in Australia. He said in 20 years on the job he’d seen two in the region.
“If you lose one engine out of two, it’s a big thing,” he told Guardian Australia. “From a Qantas point of view, it’s very rare to get a single mayday like this.”
The controller – who asked for his name not to be published – said it was not uncommon for a mayday to be downgraded mid-air. “You always overcommit and then go backwards once you know what’s happening.”
#QF144 inbound to Sydney squawking 7700. Local media reporting flight suffering from an issue with one of its engines. https://t.co/dwHV301qhw
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 18, 2023
For more information on ‘Squawking 7700’ please see https://t.co/nW7vZ4JgMF pic.twitter.com/GO9SZSoYgG
Guardian Australia contacted the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Airservices Australia for comment.
The federal transport minister, Catherine King, said she was relieved the plane landed safely.
“Well done to the highly experienced crew for getting the plane safely home,” King tweeted. “Australia’s aviation industry is among the safest in the world because of the dedicated staff working on planes and behind the scenes.”
Emergency crews were on standby at the airport when the plane landed. Fire, police and ambulance personnel were on site as a precautionary measure.
“NSW Ambulance paramedics are responding to a mayday alert issued by flight QF144 from Auckland,” NSW Ambulance said on Wednesday.
