A Qantas plane en route to Argentina has been forced to return to Sydney after an electrical problem led to smoke in the cockpit, the fifth in-flight or pre-flight incident since an engine failure on a Singapore-bound A380 flight 11 days ago.
QF17, which took off from Sydney Airport at 11.11am today with 199 passengers on board, turned back about an hour into the flight to Buenos Aires, a Qantas spokeswoman said.
A friend of one of the passengers said the pilot announced there was smoke coming from the instrument panel.
A Qantas spokesman confirmed an electrical problem had caused the smoke.
Passenger Teague Czislowski, a Sydney lawyer, said fellow travellers became concerned when they noticed fuel coming out of the wings.
"About an hour into the flight we suddenly did a 180-degree turn and you could see the wing section and while it looked like there was smoke coming out of it, it was actually the fuel dump taking place," he said.
Electrics out
"The first thing you noticed was then the electrics going out. There was no lights, no entertainment, only the emergency panels were on."
Mr Czislowski said the flight then headed towards Sydney and circled Botany Bay for "what seemed like ages so they could keep dumping fuel".
He said passengers had not been told why there were returning.
"I have on my watch an altimeter and it had shown they had fully depressurised the cabin," he said.
"As we came in to land you didn't hear the normal electrical sounds when they activate the landing gear but you could hear something, like they were manually doing it.
"We were pretty bloody concerned and they did tell us it would be all OK, but we weren't sure. There were no electrics and you really wondered whether they were flying the plane OK."
The plane landed "very smoothly", Mr Czislowski said, but only then did passengers realise the "seriousness of it all".
Mr Czislowski, who was heading to Brazil for a wedding, said passengers celebrated and some even hissed once the flight landed.
Met by fire engines
"We were waiting on the tarmac and ... then we were met by all the fire engines and fire brigade, there were reams and reams of them, and then we realised something major must have happened," he said.
"We then pulled up and told to say in our seats and ... then the captain came through the cabin stopping at 10-metre intervals so people could hear.
"He explained that they took off and everything was fine. They finished their ascent and everything was fine and then smoke started coming out of their flight control at their panel upfront and that's when they knew there was some problem.
"They then went straight into emergency procedures and a series of tests."
Mr Czislowski said the latest Qantas mishap "is a disgrace".
"Excuse my French, but this is just another Qantas f--- up - that is what the QF probably stands for," he said.
"Questions from the passengers were whether maintenance crews were putting all their attention into [the problems with the] A-380s and this is why it happened.
"But, whatever it is, it's ridiculous. It is simply unacceptable and a lot of people were saying I just will stop flying Qantas."
Touch down
The Boeing 747-400, with three flight and 18 cabin crew, touched down safely at Sydney Airport at 1.22pm after priority clearance to land was given by air traffic control, a Qantas spokesman said.
"Engineers are inspecting the aircraft to determine the cause of the issue. Passengers have disembarked into the terminal building," the spokesman said.
"Reports that the aircraft lost pressure in the main cabin are incorrect. Oxygen supply to the cabin was unaffected."
The spokesman said the incident was reported to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Air Transport Safety Bureau.
"Qantas regrets the inconvenience to passengers and will seek to make contingency arrangements for those affected."
A replacement flight would leave Sydney at 5pm, the spokesman said.
On Saturday, a missing screw delayed a Qantas flight from Sydney to Melbourne by an hour, while a QantasLink flight to Sydney from Coffs Harbour was delayed by five hours after a warning light indicated a problem with the engines as it came in to land.
On Friday, Melbourne-bound QF768 returned to Perth after flight crew noticed a vibration in the No.1 engine of the Boeing 767.
All of Qantas's Airbus A380s remain grounded after the November 4 midair engine explosion on QF32 from Singapore to Sydney. Both Qantas and Rolls Royce, the maker of the Trent 900 engine, are investigating the incident.
The following day, a Boeing 747-400 plane departing from Singapore and heading for Sydney had to turn back after a "contained engine failure".
Qantas's chief executive Alan Joyce defended the Australian airline's safety record during its 90th anniversary celebrations on Saturday.
"Hundreds if not thousands of these type of things would happen on airlines around the world every year," he said when asked about the incident involving QF768.
It is not known when the A380s will be cleared to fly again.
Qantas shares fell 5 cents immediately after news about this latest incident broke, but regained some of their value later.
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Qantas flight QF17 from Sydney to Buenos Aires turns back
Mr Czislowski is qualified - he has an altimeter in his watch!!!