Absolute rubbish journalism
Engine bang halts Qantas take-off
By David Southwellnews.com.auNovember 18, 2009 04:11pm+-PrintEmailShare
A QANTAS passenger plane taking off from Hong Kong was brought to a screeching halt after a pilot heard "a loud bang" from the engine.
QF30, a 747 Jumbo with 313 passengers onboard, was heading to Melbourne from Hong Kong International Airport at 9.55am local time yesterday (1:55pm AEDT yesterday) when it came to an abrupt halt.
Clasina Cue, a Melbourne grandmother and former airport worker, was aboard along with her friend, Lisa Taliana, also from Melbourne with both returning from a Hong Kong holiday.
Both say the plane was nearing taking off speed.
“The plane's nose was a bit up in the air,” Ms Cue said.
Ms Taliana was not sure on that point.
“There was a big bang and a shudder. The pilot slammed the brakes and stopped the plane. It had been close to the point of no return.”
A Qantas spokesperson confirms it was a "high-speed rejected take-off" but denies the nose was off the ground.
Both Ms Cue and Ms Taliana said they could smell smoke in the cabin, Ms Cue believed it was from the “screeching” tyres.
Ms Cue and Ms Taliana both praised the pilot.
“It was the pilot’s quick thinking. We could have gone up in the air. It could have been a lot worse,” said Ms Cue.
“I’m just thankful we’re not dead,” said Ms Taliana.
“The pilot did an awesome job. Not taking off was the best thing he could have possibly done.”
Both said all the passengers aboard an apparently fully-laden plane were very calm, there were no screams.
“It just happened so quickly,” Ms Cue said.
“There was a baby crying but no one appeared to be hurt.”
The passengers were told to stay in their seats and then the pilot’s voice came over the speakers.
“He said we weren’t in any danger but it seemed one of the engines had blown,” Ms Taliana said.
The airport’s fire brigade were on hand and engineers jumped into the engine that showed no sign of damage.
The plane sat on the runway until the tyres cooled and then it was towed to an area safe for the passengers to disembark.
The Qantas spokesperson said there had been no cockpit indications of engine failure but it was later found that the engine needed new compressor blades.
The spokesperson could not say why there was no cockpit indicator of a problem before the bang alerted the pilot.
The passengers went back through Hong Kong Customs and were put up in an airport hotel.
Ms Cue and Ms Taliana were expecting to fly out of Hong Kong today but were told they could get on a Cathay Pacific flight that left Hong Kong yesterday.
Neither were impressed that they weren’t told it was a indirect flight, meaning a stopover in Adelaide.
Both are back in Melbourne.
Ms Cue says she finds the whole thing “quite funny in the end” and “just one of those things.”
As a former airport worker she says there are lots of similar incidents from many airlines that never get reported.
Qantas planes have been bedevilled with numerous incidents over the past couple of years.
There have been union claims that safety is being compromised with maintenance work being outsourced to overseas terminals.
The Qantas spokesperson however said the plane in question had been maintained in Sydney.