Manila Bulletin
October 18, 2011
SYDNEY (AFP) – A Sydney-bound Qantas flight was forced to turn back to Bangkok after a bang was heard on board, the airline said Monday, as the carrier separately grounded five aircraft due to a labor row.
The 'Flying Kangaroo', which is locked in increasingly heated talks with pilots, engineers and baggage handlers on wages and conditions, was also explaining how it fumbled the delivery of an unaccompanied 11-year-old boy.
Qantas said QF002 from Bangkok to Sydney turned back about one hour into its journey Sunday after a noise was heard and excessive vibrations reportedly felt.
''There was some noise reported on board the aircraft,'' a Qantas spokeswoman said, adding that engineers had identified the probable cause as one of the aircraft's Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.
The Boeing 747-400, carrying 356 people, touched back down in Bangkok without incident.
''There was some white sparks shooting out of the engine and then they informed us of what was going on, that the engine had been shut down and we were returning to Bangkok,'' one passenger told Macquarie Radio.
The incident comes as Qantas grounded five aircraft for a month, removing some 400 flights and 60,000 seats from its schedule, after rolling strikes by engineers caused a maintenance backlog.
Qantas has said the industrial action was also affecting forward bookings as unions remain fixed on negotiating pay increases and job security with the carrier refocusing its business towards Asia.
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