Qantas Sydney to Perth flight evacuated via slides after smoke fills cabin

December 16, 2019December 16, 2019 NewsEditor Airline industry, Australia news, Perth, Qantas, Sydney

Terrifying ordeal forced plane to return to Sydney airport shortly after takeoff

Passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Perth evacuated via slides after the Airbus A330 was forced to return as the cabin filled with smoke.

Qantas said flight 575 returned to Sydney shortly after takeoff on Sunday morning due to a hydraulic issue.

Once back at the gate, the captain made the decision to evacuate the aircraft as a precaution and three emergency slides were deployed, the airline said in a statement.

Passengers were evacuated through both the slides and normal exits.

One passenger described the incident on Twitter as terrifying.

Just had to evacuate my flight to Perth after engineering issues. Everyone had to exit the plane via slide onto Sydney tarmac after the cabin filled with smoke and the captain screamed evacuate, she tweeted.

Another passenger, Sydney mechanic Rahman Akbari, told the Daily Telegraph that the captain appeared calm but it was a little bit scary when the crew began yelling evacuate, evacuate on the tarmac.

Initially it was just the smell, we could smell something but after a few minutes this fume starting building up in the cabin, he told the newspaper.

Qantas said engineers were inspecting the aircraft.

Related posts