Qantas makes emergency landing over fuel concerns

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VZT (MSN 34186)

A Qantas flight travelling from Perth to Adelaide was forced to make an emergency landing at a regional airport on Monday night because of an issue with the plane’s fuel.

Flight QF888, travelling from Perth Western Australia (PER/YPPH) to Adelaide South Australia (ADL/YPAD), diverted to Kalgoorlie Western Australia (KGI/YPKG) just under two hours after the Boeing 737 departed Perth, after the pilots were alerted to a potential issue with the aircraft’s fuel system.

The aircraft departed from Perth's runway 21 at 5.11pm local time and landed in Kalgoorlie 1 hour 40 minutes later on runway 29 at 6.51pm local time. 

“The Captain followed procedure to divert to the nearest airport where the aircraft landed without incident. Engineers are inspecting the aircraft,” a Qantas spokesman said.

Passengers were flown back to Perth on a replacement aircraft and provided overnight accommodation.

They travelled to Adelaide yesterday.

“We apologise for the disruption to Monday night’s flight. Safety is always our top priority,” a Qantas spokesman said.

Checking Flightradar24 this morning the crippled aircraft is still on the ground in Kalgoorlie.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Qantas

Code: QF/QFA

Aircraft: Boeing 737-838

Registration: VH-VZT

Serial Number: 34186

First Flew: October 2011