Qantas flight forced to dump fuel, land after witnesses claim flame came from engine

This is the second time recently that an engine has been observed to be on fire, only to have the Qantas spinmeisters dismiss it as a "few sparks". Why they think that lies improve their credibility is a mystery

A PASSENGER on board a Singapore-bound Qantas flight that was forced to return to Sydney Airport last night has told of fire coming from the plane. Nicola Wall told Channel Nine News today that she looked out of her window to see "flames coming out from under the wing".

A witness, Jack Martin, who was surfing when he saw the plane, said he heard a "big bang". "I looked up and saw a big Qantas plane flying and its right engine was on fire," he told Channel Nine.

Another witness, Steve, said he also spotted flames coming from the engine as he was driving from Kurnell to Cronulla. "I pulled up and watched and as it headed out to sea the flames were coming out of the engine, and ... it just flew off into the clouds," he told Macquarie Radio last night.

Ms Wall said the experience was made worse by flight attendants and the captain who did not immediately tell passengers what was happening.

Qantas could not confirm the reports, but last night said the situation was not an emergency. "We have a technical issue identified with the aircraft, we believe it is impacting one of the engines," spokeswoman Christie McSweeney said.

"It was not in an emergency at any stage. "There was likely to have been some sparks and flint, but nothing we would describe as flames and fire."

A pilot discovered the issue in the third engine soon after the near-full QF5 jumbo left Sydney at 5.10pm (AEDT), the airline said. The aircraft, which was over the sea at the time, was turned back, dumping fuel on the way to meet landing requirements.

It landed safely about 6.15pm (AEDT). The 414 passengers were removed after engineers assessed the problem and found it could not be repaired within a reasonable time-frame, a spokeswoman said. After a four-hour wait, the passengers were transferred to another aircraft, which left Sydney for Singapore at about 9pm (AEDT).

The plane is being further assessed by engineers, Qantas said.

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