Jetstar leaves hundreds of passengers stranded in Alice Springs

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKB (MSN 36228)

A Jetstar 787 flying travelling from Bangkok (BKK/VTBS) to Melbourne (MEL/YMML) forced to land in Alice Springs (ASP/YBAS) due to a medical emergency after a passenger was taken ill, has left hundreds of passengers stranded for over 10 hours.

JQ30, a Boeing 787-8 (VH-VKB) departed Bangkok at 9.30pm and was due to land in Melbourne around 10.30am but ended up landing in Alice Springs at 7.20am (Alice Springs Time) 

Officials confirmed the grounding was due to an electrical fault being detected after the plane landed, and airline officials had to organise for a replacement mechanical part to come from Sydney. Jetstar confirmed the flight was experiencing” a lengthy and frustrating delay” after the ill passenger had to be removed.

Many of the passengers onboard took to social media to vent their frustration at the situation which has left hundreds waiting, allegedly without food.

One wrote on social media, 

“As Alice Springs is not an international airport, we have all been stuck on the plane for close to 14 hours now and aren’t allowed to leave". 

“Passengers are having panic attacks on the plane, several children under 3 years old are onboard, yet no food has been provided,” another passenger added.

A second Boeing 787-8 JQ8996 (VH-VKE) arrived at 4.43pm and departed for Melbourne at 7.24pm, touching down in Melbourne at 11.20pm, 13 hours behind its scheduled arrival.

JETSTAR BOEING 787-8 VH-VKE (MSN 36230) 

At the time of writing this, VKB was still ground in Alice Springs.