Two Qantas planes turned, leave passengers stranded on Christmas

Hundreds of Qantas passengers missed Christmas celebrations after two planes were grounded due to mechanical issues.

Qantas is leaving behind a trail of unhappy customers because of last minute delays and mechanical issues at the busiest time of year – forcing hundreds to celebrate Christmas stranded abroad, or stuck on a plane.

Qantas passengers travelling on QF63 to South Africa on Christmas Day instead ended up back in Sydney after their plane was forced to turn around mid-flight.

The Airbus 380, which usually holds between 500 – 800 passengers, had to do a priority landing because of a mechanical issue.

Emergency crews greeted QF63 on the tarmac. A Qantas spokesperson said firetrucks were called as a precaution and in the end they were not needed.

Emergency services were called to the tarmac. X/@AbeTanbouz

The flight took off from Sydney airport around 10am local time en route to Johannesburg but 4.5 hours into flying, the plane made a sudden U-turn near Antarctica, according to FlightRadar.

As a result, customers were back in Sydney by 7.30pm, having spent the entirety of their Christmas Day in the confines of the plane.

And in another incident, 300 passengers found themselves in the USA instead of back home in Melbourne as planned due to several days of delays.

Two flights were turned around, stranding passengers on Christmas. Picture: X/@FlightRadar/

Aussies wanting to return home from the US had booked themselves on QF94, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The flight was for December 22, supposed to leave Los Angeles around 8.30pm local time and head to Melbourne, giving them plenty of time to be home before Christmas.

However, instead, the plane sat unmoving on the tarmac for six hours as frustrated passengers waited inside due to some kind of mechanical issue.

Finally, at 2am local time, they were told to get off the plane.

Eventually, the flight was rebooked for the following day, December 23, but 30 minutes before the new departure date, disaster struck once again according to one passenger.

“About 30 minutes prior to departure, Qantas once again cancelled the flight citing the same engineering issue,” Will Schofield, a sport podcaster from Western Australia, tweeted about the incident.

“Qantas knew it wasn’t going to fly. Texted passengers saying there was a 90 minute delay about 4 hours before. None of the crew came to the gate.”

Customers were back in Sydney by 7.30pm, having spent the entirety of their Christmas Day in the confines of the plane. Picture: iStock

Mr Schofield said he knew some passengers had been stranded at the Los Angeles International Airport for more than 48 hours.

The entire plane load of people missed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and spent it in the US rather than Melbourne.

In a statement to news.com.au, a Qantas spokesperson said:

“We want to sincerely apologise to all customers impacted by the significant delay to our Los Angeles to Melbourne flight. We understand how disappointing and frustrating this experience would have been, particularly for those who are missing Christmas Day with their loved ones. We’re reaching out to customers to offer compensation, and we want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”