Another triumph for QANTAS maintenance

Witness tells of smoke and tears in Jetstar engine drama

Jetstar has denied claims that flames were seen coming from an engine of one of its aircraft in a incident that one witness says left flight attendants in tears. The airline's Christchurch to Sydney flight - JQ150 - was forced to land with just one engine about 4.30pm yesterday, but a Jetstar spokeswoman said pilots remained in total control of the Airbus A320. No one was injured, the spokeswoman said.

New Zealander Amanda Tottle, of Christchurch, was one of the 118 passengers on board. She said nearby passengers reported flames and dark smoke coming from one of the engines. Ms Tottle, who was sitting near the damaged engine, said the incident started "with a big loud bang", which shook the aircraft. "We were happily sitting there and suddenly there was this big loud bang and the guy sitting in front of me called over the stewardess and said there was flames and black smoke coming from the engine," she said.

Ms Tottle said the flight attendant then told the pilot. "We had the stewardesses continually running across to look at the engine and asking people what they saw but we really didn't have any other information at the time," she said. "Some of the stewardesses were up the back in tears and kept moving past passengers to look at the engines ... and I think that worried some people."

A Jetstar spokesman denied the engine was on fire but said it was possible it produced dark smoke. "Our understanding is that there was no fire coming out of the engines," he said. "It is my understanding you may have spoken to someone who has seen smoke and there could have been. "An engine was shut down ... and there could well have been smoke but you and me weren't up there so we don't know."

The spokesman said pilots shut down the engine just out of Sydney and told air traffic staff of the situation. Fire crews were on standby when the jet landed.

"I can confirm that from reports from the captain ... that a thorough explanation was provided [to passengers] on what occurred and ... that was well received as it was coolly done and very professionally handled," he said. The spokesman said he could not comment on whether any of aircraft's staff were in tears.

Ms Tottle said it took pilots about 30 minutes to tell passengers of the situation. "About half an hour after the big bang the pilot said you may be aware of an earlier incident and that they had lost one engine but the plane can fly with just one engine," she said.

"We then circled the airport about three or four times ... and when we landed, which was [a] really heavy [landing], there were fire crews everywhere. But never were we told what was really going on."

The spokesman said the airline "has the most modern jet fleet in Australia and will thoroughly investigate" what caused the engine to malfunction. "It should take some time as to reasons why the engine malfunctioned ... but we are working with the manufacturers."

The aircraft did not carry out any further journeys yesterday, the spokesman said.

SOURCE