Qantas flight makes emergency landing
Tuesday, 07 Oct 2008 09:53
As many 40 passengers were injured earlier today when a Qantas aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in western Australia.
The plane experienced what is being described as a "sudden change in altitude" before being forced to touch down at Learmonth Airport in Exmouth – some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Perth.
The Qantas Airbus A330-300 was flying from Singapore to Perth with 303 passengers and ten crew on board – before making a mayday call and landing in Exmouth.
Passengers suffered "fractures and lacerations" and were treated at the scene by waiting medical crews. Two planes were dispatched by Qantas to ferry remaining passengers to Perth.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service also sent two aircraft to the scene, transporting as many as ten of the injured to hospital.
While it is not clear at this time what caused the incident, officials expect severe turbulence to be to blame.
This is the third incident to strike Qantas planes in four months.
On July 25th an aircraft made an emergency landing in Manila after an oxygen tank exploded on board, punching a hole the plane's fuselage at 29,000 feet.
In addition, a Qantas plane was also was forced to return to Sydney soon after takeoff on August 2nd, due to a fluid leak in a wing.
Chris O'Toole