Mid-air drama as Jetstar flight bound for Gold Coast fails landing twice

PASSENGERS have been sent into a panic after the ‘overpowering’ smell of fumes overtook the cabin of a Jetstar flight that attempted two failed landings at Gold Coast Airport.

The cabin of the Gold Coast-bound Jetstar flight filled with fuel fumes, panicking passengers. (AAP Image/Daniel Munoz)

A PASSENGER on a Jetstar flight has told of his horror as he were overcome by the smell of aviation fuel fumes while circling above the Gold Coast for more than an hour and half after two failed attempts to land the aircraft.

Flight JQ186, bound for Coolangatta from Christchurch, was due to land at 3:20pm yesterday but the landing was suddenly aborted at the last minute, rising at a steep 45 degree angle back into the sky.

Passenger Ian Sellar from Mount Tamborine said the plane abruptly jerked back up, leaving passengers confused and stewards ‘looking concerned’.

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“We were coming in from the west looking out at Elephant Rock and I thought, ‘geez, she’s not lined up here, it’s well off the mark’,” he said.

“There was a really sudden rise and we went back out to sea, circling for about 20 minutes.

“The initial lift back up was shocking — they were absolutely screaming the engine to get above Coolangatta hill, it was close.

“They tried to land again but no good.”

The 76-year-old said the plane then came in from a northern approach and managed to land ‘at an angle’.

“It stank like hell in the cabin,” he said.

“If I was in there any longer I would have jumped out I was starting to get a headache.”

When the flight finally landed, the plane was greeted by fire crews and four ambulances.

“It was pretty scary once we had landed and saw all the ambos and firies there waiting for us,” he said.

“I could see hydraulic oil pooling underneath the plane and they were cleaning it away like crazy.

“All you could smell was fuel and the fumes were overpowering, we just wanted to get off the plane — it was scary.”

A Jetstar spokesman said there was an issue with the hydraulic system on the aircraft but no fuel had leaked.

“On approach into Coolangatta Airport, pilots on-board a flight from Christchurch received an alert indicating an issue with one of the hydraulic systems on the aircraft,” he said.

“As a precaution, the captain conducted a ‘go around’ to conduct further checks, before the flight landed normally at Coolangatta Airport.

The spokesman refuted the fuel leak and said there were no ‘fuel smells’ on board the aircraft.

“The Captain made three announcements to everyone on board to let them know what was happening — it’s safety before schedule for us,” he said.

He said the aircraft had three hydraulic systems and could safely operate on the two functioning hydraulic systems.

Engineers are looking into the cause of the issue.

A Gold Coast Airport spokeswoman said crews performed a ‘standby’ as a precautionary response.
“It was not a major issue and it was resolved quickly,” she said.