Strong head winds force a Qantas flight to make an unexpected remote landing

A few days ago, a Qantas flight from London’s Heathrow (LHR/EGLL) to Perth (PER/YPPH) had to make an unscheduled stop in the West Australian mining town of Karratha (KTA/YPKA) after strong headwinds left it without enough fuel to finish the trip in one go.

The 17-hour flight was supposed to land at Perth Airport around midday but ended up diverting to Karratha Airport, touching down at 11:45 a. QF10, a 787 Dreamliner, had to refuel after changing weather conditions along the way, a rare occurrence that happens on long-haul journeys.

The surprise landing comes days after Qantas revealed the timing of its ambitious ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise flights, which will connect Sydney to London on flights that can last 22 hours non-stop. It shows how weather could confront the new service.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner needed more fuel to complete the final two hours of its journey after weather conditions during the flight forced the crew to adjust the flight path, Qantas said. The aircraft spent about one hour on the ground before continuing on to Perth at 12.40pm and touching down in Perth at 2.40pm.

Karratha Airport, mostly used to service the region’s fly-in, fly-out mining workforce, was only approved to accept larger aircraft last month. The location, based in the town that is home to about 25,000 people, became a designated restricted use international airport and alternative international airport.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Qantas

Code: QF/QFA

Aircraft: Boeing 787-9

Registration: VH-ZNA

Serial Number: 39038

First Flew: September 2019

Age: 7.9 Years