Four hundred thirty-three passengers and 26 crew members are saying an extra special prayer of thanks following a harrowing landing earlier today.
Qantas Airways had to ground its Airbus A30 plane en route from Singapore to Sydney following engine failure. Even though the mishap ended safely, aviation experts say the incident was serious. No doubt it felt that way for those on aboard.
Fifteen minutes after take-off, passengers heard a loud bang and saw puffs of smoke coming from the engine (egad!) The pilot reportedly got on the PA system and said, “I do apologize. I’m sure you are aware we have a technical issue with our number two engine. We have dealt with the situation, the aircraft is secure at this stage. We’re going to have to hold for some time whilst we do lighten our load by dumping some fuel and a number of checklist [items] we have to perform.”
One tense hour later, the plane was safely landed back in Singapore.
Passenger Ulf Waschbusch tweeted shortly after landing, “Just emergency landed back in Singapore after engine blew up at take-off and parts ripped through wings. Damn.” All passengers remarkably remained quiet and calm (but really, what’s more terrifying than the silence of a flight in distress?) Waschbusch told CNN, “We all stayed pretty calm. It was an almost eerie calm.” When the plane was finally stopped back at the gate, the entire aircraft erupted in tears of joy, relief and gratitude.
The Airbus A30 is the world’s largest passenger jet. It’s also the quietest and most eco-friendly plane that currently flies commercially. There have been zero incidents with these double-decker aircrafts since their 2005 launch. It’s not yet determined if airlines like Air France, Emirates, Singapore and Lufthansa will halt the use of their A30s until further investigation has been completed.
As terrifying as it is to hear about in-flight incidents, this story has a happy ending. Everyone made it out alive.
Image courtesy of d_proffer at Wikimedia Commons.