SYDNEY – Another day and another incident involving Qantas.
A Boeing 747 operating Qantas Flight 1 from Bangkok to London Heathrow this morning experienced a surge in one of its four engines shortly after take-off at 0100 local time.
The captain of the aircraft shut down that engine and returned to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, landing at approximately 0230 local time.
In a statement, Qantas said there was no safety issue at any stage – “Boeing 747 aircraft can fly normally on three engines. Engine surges do not occur regularly, but are not an unknown event on jet aircraft.”
A replacement aircraft was being flown to Bangkok from Sydney while engineers examined the aircraft. The 335 passengers on board were transferred to hotel accommodation.
The incident comes after a Qantas passenger threatened to bring down a flight with the power of his mind, the ABC reports.
A passenger was restrained on QF31 – a Sydney to Singapore flight on Monday – after behaving in a "threatening and disruptive manner". Police in Singapore took him into custody for questioning.
Another long-haul Qantas flight was grounded in Melbourne yesterday after a cockpit window cracked during a flight from Los Angeles.
On Friday, a flight from Perth to Brisbane was delayed after a wing flap defect was found.
On the same day, a Qantas Boeing 747 travelling from Brisbane to Los Angeles was grounded after a wiring problem was found in one of its engines.
Last Wednesday, two tyres burst on an A380 superjumbo as it landed at Sydney Airport.
