Source : Perth Now news
Passengers on board a Qantas flight bound for Melbourne from Sydney have been evacuated after the cabin suddenly filled with smoke.
Smoke wafted up into the cabin on the Monday night flight, with passengers having to be evacuated and then put on Tuesday morning flights.
This incident comes two days after an engine explosion on a Queenstown to Sydney Qantas flight caused the plane to divert to Christchurch. On Tuesday, Qantas had no information to share on the cause of that incident.
Monday night’s incident was caused by exhaust smoke from an aircraft tug – the vehicle which moves planes on the ground – began drifting into the cabin.
The smoke was visible inside the plane, NewsWire has been told.
Passengers were evacuated and engineers found no issues with the Airbus A220.
The flight was cancelled and passengers were put on Tuesday morning flights, NewsWire understands.
Flight data shows that plane – VH-X4A – has been zipping up and down the east coast on Tuesday, from Sydney to Coffs Harbour, back to Sydney, to Melbourne and then a trip to Hobart scheduled for 4pm.
The Queenstown to Sydney plane which was diverted to Christchurch on Saturday is not back in the air.
On Saturday morning, as the plane climbed over the scenic Otago mountains, passengers heard a series of explosions and passengers saw flames on the left wing. Travellers told media people on-board were screaming.
Both of the Boeing 737’s engines remained operational, but the flight was diverted to Christchurch.
A Qantas spokesperson said at the time the plane was believed to have suffered an engine issue.
“Our pilots are highly trained to manage situations like this and the aircraft landed safely,” the spokesperson said.
“We know this would have been a distressing experience for passengers and will be contacting all customers to provide support.”
Passengers were given hotel rooms near the Christchurch airport and flown to Sydney the next day.
Flight data shows that Boeing 737 has been grounded since the incident. The plane had already flown from Sydney to Queenstown earlier in the day, and two days prior completed five legs across 13 hours of flying time.
