Qantas speak out after engine failure sparks mayday call

Qantas has broken its silence after an aircraft flying to Sydney from Auckland sparked a huge emergency response when crew issued a mayday call while over the Tasman Sea.

Qantas pilots dramatically issued a mayday call when one of their plane’s engines blew during a flight carrying 145 passengers to Sydney from Auckland on Wednesday.

Flight QF144 was over the Tasman Sea when the pilots put out the serious distress signal to report the loss of one of the Boeing 737’s two engines as emergency crews rushed to Sydney Airport to meet the aircraft.

The pilots then managed to safely land the plane about 3.30pm.

Passengers on board were not told by the crew while airborne that one of the plane’s engines had failed, but passenger Nigel Morris told The Daily Telegraph at the airport he had noticed the aircraft started losing altitude rapidly at one point.

“Over the next half-hour the altitude just went spiralling down from about 36,000 to 20,000 (feet),” he said.

Qantas flight QF144 arrives at Sydney Airport after a mayday alert was called. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“I was a bit concerned as there was no explanation.

“Then when we got on the ground fire engines were waiting for us.”

Passengers Colin and Simone Schmidt said they heard a “bang” while in the air and that some people gasped on the runway when they discovered the engine had malfunctioned.

“We didn’t realise the whole engine had gone,” said Ms Schmidt.

NSW Ambulance paramedics were on the scene as the plane landed. Picture: OnScene

“We just heard a bang and that was it, so you don’t know what you don’t know.”

A Qantas spokeswoman confirmed the flight “experienced an issue with one of its engines about an hour from its destination”.

She said the mayday call was then downgraded to a PAN call, which is used to describe a less urgent situation but one that still requires attention from air traffic control.

“While a mayday was initially issued, this was downgraded to a PAN (call),” she said. “The aircraft landed safely at around 3.30pm and is now being inspected by our engineers. The 145 passengers on board disembarked the aircraft normally.

The mayday call prompted an enormous emergency response. Picture: OnScene

“While in-flight engine shutdowns are rare and would naturally be concerning for passengers our pilots are trained to manage them safely and aircraft are designed to fly for an extended period on one engine.”

Boeing 737s are able to fly using only one engine, but pilots consider any engine loss as very serious.

A mayday call is usually issued when a plane is in grave and imminent danger and needs immediate assistance, according to federal government body Airservices Australia.

Unlike Mr Morris, Bathurst residents Georgia and Charlie Teirney did not notice anything was amiss until they had landed.

Passengers Georgia and Charlie Teirney who were onboard the Qantas plane after a mayday alert was called at Sydney International Airport. Photo Jeremy Piper

“We were asleep most of the time, we didn’t notice anything,” Ms Teirney said.

“No one was panicking, you wouldn’t have even known from looking at the air hostesses, they were so calm.

“It won’t stop me from flying again.”

Thousands of concerned people in Australia and around the world tracked the flight’s journey into Sydney via online satellite systems.

As QF144 approached the runway in Sydney, more than 200,000 people were watching the flight live using flightradar24.com’s GPS technology.