Sydney Airport emergency: reports of ‘explosion’ in engine of Qantas flight as grass fire breaks out

A Qantas flight from Sydney has been diverted back to the domestic airport after customers heard an “explosion” in an engine, reportedly sparking a massive grass fire alongside the runway.

A Qantas flight from Sydney has been diverted back to the domestic airport after passengers reported hearing an “explosion” in an engine, reportedly sparking a massive grass fire alongside the runway.

Airservices Australia refused to answer questions in relation to the incident.

Flightradar24 data showed flight QF520 circling just of Sydney’s coastline several times before turning back to Sydney’s domestic airport on Friday afternoon.

A Qantas spokesman told The Saturday Telegraph the plane had landed safely.

“Qantas engineers have conducted a preliminary inspection of the engine and confirmed it was a contained engine failure,” Qantas chief pilot Captain Richard Tobiano said. “While customers would have heard a loud bang, there was not an explosion.”

A fire burning near Sydney Airport on November 8, 2024. Picture: Brenden Wood

”After circling for a short period of time, the aircraft landed safely at Sydney Airport.

“Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were conducted.

“We understand this would have been a distressing experience for customers and we will be contacting all customers this afternoon to provide support.

“We will also be conducting an investigation into what caused the engine issue.”

Emergency services rushed to battle the grassfire alongside the runway Sydney Airport in Botany.

The Qantas flight's path on radar as it circled ahead of the emergency landing. Picture: Supplied

The explosion came just before a grassfire erupted in the vicinity of Sir Joseph Banks Park, near Foreshore Dr, to the east of the airport, on Friday afternoon.

A NSW Rural Fire Service map shows the blaze is being controlled and is currently at “advice” level.

A grass fire has broken out at Sydney Airport, reportedly after a malfunction with an aircraft's engine on takeoff. Picture: 9News

In a statement on Friday afternoon, Sydney Airport said a “Brisbane bound flight made an emergency-return to Sydney Airport, landing safely just after 1pm”.

“This departure of aircraft coincided with a grass fire along the eastern side of the airport’s parallel runway, which was brought under control by teams from the Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Service,” the statement reads.

“It’s not clear at this stage if the two incidents are linked, and investigations are continuing.

A grass fire has taken off next to the third runway at Sydney Airport. picture X

“With the safe arrival of the aircraft, Sydney Airport’s priority is to conduct a full inspection of its parallel runway and to return it to service as quickly as possible.”

The representative said passengers should expect delays, and are encouraged to check in with their airline.

The RFS has declared a total fire ban across Greater Sydney, with hot and windy conditions expected throughout the day, while a nationwide system outage also caused major delays at international airports across the country.