Qantas flight to San Francisco on its way back to Sydney

BREAKING: A Qantas flight en route to San Francisco has been landed after being forced to head back to Sydney.

Qantas flight headed to San Francisco on its way back to Sydney. Picture: Edward Boyd

A QANTAS flight en route to San Francisco has been forced to return to Sydney because of technical issues.

Flight QF73 departed Sydney Airport at 1:56pm but has since made its way back to the NSW city.

A Qantas spokeswoman told news.com.au: “QF73 from Sydney to San Francisco turned around about 90 minutes into the flight due to a technical issue. It’s now back on the ground in Sydney and engineers are inspecting the aircraft.

“We understand delays can be frustrating for our passengers but we’ll always put safety ahead of schedule and our teams are doing everything they can to get passengers back on their way.”

The plane is a Boeing 747 jumbo jet of which Qantas has 10 in its fleet with an average age of just under 17 years. The 747 has largely been replaced in the Qantas fleet by the Airbus A380 double decker super jumbo with the new Boeing 787 likely to see the remaining aircraft of the type phased out.

The Australian company, regarded as one of the safest in the world, celebrated its first long awaited Dreamliner landing in Sydney yesterday.

The flight path of QF73 en route to San Francisco.

The Boeing 787-9, registered as VH-ZNA, touched down yesterday after its maiden flight from the United States and was ceremoniously wheeled into its hangar to the sounds of cheers from Qantas staff and a choral rendition of I Still Call Australia Home.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, who was among the VIPs on board the flight from the Boeing facility in Seattle, said the arrival of the Dreamliners was one of the biggest things to happen in the history of Qantas.

“We’ve taken delivery of hundreds of aircraft in our 98-year history but only a few of them have been game-changers like this one,” he said.

“In the 1940s the Lockheed Constellation meant we could fly around the world, and in the 1960s the Boeing 707 took us into the jet age and cut flying time in half.

“The Boeing 747 changed the economics of travel for millions of people and the sheer size of the Airbus A380 meant we could re-imagine what in-flight service was like.

“Our version of the Dreamliner follows in those footsteps. It gives us a combination of flying range and passenger comfort that will change how people travel.”

Qantas has been approached for comment.

More to come.