Adelaide Airport flight delays, diversions and aborted landing as fog covers city
A routine one-hour Melbourne-Adelaide flight took a marathon six hours this morning, as thick fog created chaos. A traveller on-board has relived the drama.
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Flights were diverted and delayed, a landing aborted and one Melbourne-Adelaide service took an epic six hours after thick fog blanketed Adelaide Airport on Sunday.
Two Jetstar flights en route to Adelaide on Sunday morning, from Sydney and Brisbane, had to be diverted to Melbourne when the fog prevented them from being able to safely land.
A Virgin Australia flight taking off from Melbourne and scheduled to land in Adelaide at 8.05am had to abort a landing at the last moment.
It went into a lengthy holding pattern, circling above the Adelaide Hills for almost an hour, before heading back to Melbourne. It eventually flew into Adelaide more than six hours after its scheduled arrival.
Matthew Rushton was on the Melbourne-Adelaide Virgin flight, describing the experience as hectic.
He said once the plane landed back in Melbourne, passengers were not allowed to disembark.
“We were kept on the plane. Five people did choose to get off but we were told if we wanted to get off … we wouldn’t be allowed to reboard,” he said.
“Honestly, as much as I’m happy to be in back in Adelaide, I mean, I probably would have preferred to have been on a plane going to Bali for six hours.”
The plane attempted to land in Adelaide at its scheduled time but had to abort owing to low visibility. The flight was forced into a holding pattern above the Hills for around 40 minutes before it was diverted back to Melbourne.
“(Flight crew) said that they were just waiting to see whether the fog would clear. I think it was about 40 minutes that we were circling for and then they said, no, we’re not gonna be able to (land), we’re going to have to return back to Melbourne.”
Finally disembarking the plane in Adelaide just before 1pm, Mr Rushton said there was “definitely some relief”.
“But you know what? It’s better to be safe than sorry. They didn’t think it was safe to land. Fair enough. Don’t want anything bad to happen,” he said.
A number of outbound flights were also cancelled and delayed on Sunday, including Virgin, Jetstar and Qantas flights bound for Sydney, Melbourne and Port Lincoln.
Among those impacted were Quentin Brandwood and his wife.
The pair were travelling to Melbourne for a holiday and to see Richmond take on the Adelaide Crows, but Mr Brandwood feared delays to his 8.40am Virgin flight would see him to miss at least a quarter of the game.
(It’s) quite annoying, because it’s been a bit of a process to get the ticket, I finally got a good ticket in a corporate box,” Mr Brandwood said.
“It’s not Virgin’s fault. The fog was here … it was thick. So what do you do, apart from cry?”
Paul Khai, a pastor with Jesus Family Church, was scheduled to be on the 8.40am flight to Melbourne but the flight was delayed three times on Sunday.
He was travelling to preach at a Christian Sunday service in the Victorian capital but would now miss the event due to the delay.
“It’s a once a year program … it means a lot to me,” he said.
Mr Khai said he hoped Virgin would offer compensation.
The Bureau of Meteorology also issued a road weather alert for Adelaide on Sunday morning, cautioning of reduced visibility and dangerous road conditions due to fog.
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Originally published as Adelaide Airport flight delays, diversions and aborted landing as fog covers city
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