PERTH, Australia: Up to 40 people were injured after a mid—air incident forced a Qantas flight — flying from Singapore to Perth — to make an emergency landing on Tuesday, a police officer said.
The Airbus A320 (flight QF 72) made a successful emergency landing at an airfield in the Western Australian town of Exmouth after issuing a mayday emergency call, Sergeant Greg Lambert of the West Australian Police said.
The Qantas aircraft was due to land in Perth at 3pm local time, but it encountered severe turbulence.
Qantas confirmed that a number of passengers and crew members were injured, many of them were believed to have sustained fractures and lacerations.
It is unclear yet if there are any Singaporeans on board the Qantas flight.
"It is understood up to 40 people were injured during a mid—air incident," Lambert told the Australian Associated Press. "The nature of the mid—air incident is unknown."
Emergency services and medical staff were on standby at the airport, which lies about 1,100 kilometres northeast of the state capital of Perth, he said.
Australia’s national carrier Qantas, which has suffered a spate of incidents in recent months, told AFP it had no information about the incident, but was working to find out more.
Qantas also owns the discount airline Jetstar, which operates around 29 Airbus A320s on domestic routes.
In July, an exploding oxygen bottle punched a huge hole in the side of a Qantas Boeing 747—400, forcing an emergency landing in the Philippines. No passengers were injured in the mid—air drama.
Air safety investigators announced a safety review of Qantas, which has long been known as the world’s safest airline, after two other incidents occurred involving its aircraft within two weeks.
— AFP/CNA/yb/ls
qantas again........
The aircraft was an Airbus A330.
No Singaporeans involved in Qantas flight incident
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) said there
are no reports of Singaporeans injured on the Qantas flight that made
an emergency landing in Exmouth, Western Australia.
The flight had been en route from Singapore's Changi International Airport to Perth when it encountered severe turbulence.
The ministry added that it is monitoring the incident and that the
Singapore High Commission in Canberra is in close contact with Qantas
and the relevant authorities. Both are ready to help any affected
Singaporeans.
MFA's 24-hour Singapore hotline is +65 63798800, while the
Singapore High Commission in Canberra can be reached at +61 414733944.
- CNA/so
Heated debate online on Qantas scare
The Qantas flight scare has sparked a heated debate online.
The question is whether the incident is due to the turbulent weather or is it another case of the airline's malfunctioning.
Claire Huang reports from Melbourne.
Consumers here are split into two camps over the traumatic Qantas flight Airbus 330-300 from Singapore to Perth.
But many are still fiercely rooting for the airline in their internet postings, saying the cause is still unclear.
One parent of a passenger onboard the troubled flight wrote on the
message board that those injured were the ones who didn't buckle their
seatbelts.
So has this deterred consumers from taking Qantas flights?
Local media reports said a poll conducted by UMR Omnibus, one of
Australia's research companies, showed that confidence in the national
carrier has dipped.
But for Professor Terence Lee, who took a three and a half hour Qantas
flight from Melbourne to Perth recently, the latest incident has little
bearing on his confidence in Qantas.
Despite the occasional delays, Mr Lee, who has been taking Qantas for at least 15 years, says he will continue to do so.
And he has already bought tickets for the whole family via the same airline when he goes back to Singapore in December.
"Airline incidents are bound to happen at some point or other, for
every airline and having a few incidences, wouldn't necessarily
translate into a higher risk in that regard," Mr Lee told 938Live.
Others I spoke to, including students and businessmen, said they're not surprised that this incident happened.
A University of Western Australia student, Nishta, who has travelled
with the airline, explained there're often several hiccups before or
during the flight.
For example, she said, when her mother recently travelled from Singapore to Sydney, the flight was delayed for two hours and airlines officials cited mainternance checks as the reason. - 938Live
38 Singaporeans on board Qantas mid-air jet incident
SINGAPORE: Australian airline Qantas has confirmed that 38
Singaporeans were on board QF 72 which made an emergency landing at
Learmonth on Tuesday.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said most of the
injured Singaporeans were given outpatient treatment while a few are
under observation and in stable condition.
Qantas said up to 74 passengers were injured in varying severity, from abrasions and contusions to fractures.
MFA and Singapore's High Commission in Canberra said they are in
contact with the injured Singaporeans or their next-of-kin. The High
Commission is monitoring the situation and will provide consular
assistance to them.
Qantas said 131 of those on board were Australians. There were also
53 Britons and 40 Indian nationals. So far, the airline has not
released details of the names of affected passengers.
14 passengers are in serious condition, but none life-threatening.
Another 30 were sent to a hospital in Perth and others treated for
minor conditions.
Qantas' Chief Executive Officer said the carrier is investigating the cause of Flight QF72's sudden altitude change.
The Airbus 330's black box and cockpit voice recorder have been
removed for investigations by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The flight took off from Singapore and was on its way to Perth when
the incident happened. About 48 kilometres from Learmouth, the aircraft
which was cruising at 37,000 feet, nose-dived unexpectedly. - CNA/vm