AGAIN! Fault forces US-bound Qantas flight to divert to Fiji

A Qantas jet carrying almost 400 people from Sydney to New York was diverted to Fiji after a fuel valve fault yesterday, just four days after another safety scare on one of its planes.

QF107 left Sydney about 12.15pm yesterday and was heading towards New York via Los Angeles when the flight crew spotted a fault in a fuel valve of the Boeing 747-400 aircraft, a Qantas spokeswoman said.

The plane was diverted to Nadi airport in Fiji and landed there at 6.20pm ADST. Twenty passengers were transferred to an Air Pacific flight to Los Angeles, while the remaining 354 passengers, four flight crew and 16 cabin crew were provided accommodation in Nadi for the night, the spokeswoman said. Engineers fixed the fault overnight and the flight has now departed for Los Angeles at 9am ADST.

On Saturday, QF11 from Sydney to Los Angeles was preparing for take off when one of its engines experienced a "contained turbine blade failure". The 344 passengers on board, some of whom described hearing a "loud bang", were moved to a second plane that departed four hours later.

Two weeks ago, Sydney-bound flight QF430 turned back to Melbourne after a possible problem with one of the Boeing 767’s wingflaps.

The incidents took place just as the Australian national carrier resumed its A380 flights to Los Angeles on January 16 after a mid-air engine explosion over Indonesia on November 4 grounded all Airbus planes of the same make.

SOURCE