A Qantas plane mid-air
(Picture: Mondadori Portfolio via Getty)A Qantas flight from Singapore to London was forced to make an emergency stop in Azerbaijan following warnings of smoke in the cargo hold.
The QF1 flight from Sydney via Singapore diverted to Baku’s Heydar Aliyev international airport on Friday amid fears that a fire had broken out on board.
The plane, which departed from Singapore’s Changi airport, had been in the air for about nine hours before the pilots reported an on-board emergency and made an abrupt landing.
A spokesperson for Qantas said initial investigations on the ground had yet to find evidence of smoke in the cargo hold.
“The aircraft intermittently alerted the pilots to the potential of smoke in the cargo hold. Although it was considered likely to be a sensor fault, the aircraft diverted to Baku as a safety precaution. Initial investigations have found no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold,” the spokesperson said.
“We thank customers for their patience and we are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”
Engineers were inspecting the aircraft prior to the continuation of the journey, the spokesperson said.
The aircraft was due to leave London Heathrow for the return trip to Singapore and Sydney at 8.40pm on Friday. It has now been rescheduled for 9.30am on Christmas Eve, arriving over 12 hours late.
