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| QANTAS A380-842 VH-OQH (CN 050) File Photo |
A Qantas flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles has landed safely in Sydney after diverting there when a warning light came on in the cockpit.
Qantas says QF93, an Airbus A380, was about an hour into its flight from Tullamarine airport when an alert light turned on about 11am, indicating a loss of oil which required the engine to be set to idle."The captain made the decision to land in Sydney to have the fault fixed rather than continuing on the 14-hour flight," an airline spokesman said.
The A380 landed safely about 1pm, after circling over New South Wales as it dumped fuel in preparation for landing.
Peter Gibson from the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority says the large aircraft would have been way too heavy to land immediately.
"It would have been full of fuel for such a long flight so the pilots usually do zig zags to burn off or dump the fuel," he told AAP.
"If it's an absolute emergency they'll just land but, if not, you don't want to risk causing damage to the aircraft."
A Melbourne woman on the flight said a crew member had asked passengers to check on the engine, before the decision to turn around was made.
Passengers praised Qantas crew for their handling of the situation. The passengers which disembarked the aircraft in Sydney had been provided with complimentary lunch while the aircraft is being checked by their engineers.
Qantas engineers have now assessed the aircraft and the flight had been rescheduled to depart Sydney at 3.30pm today. The flight was already delayed as it departed an hour late in Melbourne just before 10.15am.
Aircraft Information
Aircraft: Airbus A380-842
Operator: QANTAS
Registration: VH-OQH
Serial Number: 050
Engines: 4 x RR Trent 972
First Flew: 28th August 2009
Age: 7 yrs 8 months
Test Registration: F-WWAE
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