Qantas plane loaded with passengers flew from Darwin to Brisbane after it was damaged

A Qantas plane loaded with passengers flew from Darwin to Brisbane after a baggage handler drove machinery into the jet before it took off.

The incident happened on Saturday at Darwin Airport.

A Qantas plane loaded with passengers flew from Darwin to Brisbane after a baggage handler drove machinery into the plane before it took off.

Only a small circle of people were aware of the incident, which happened on Saturday, when the NT News was told Thursday morning.

Engineers only discovered damage to the plane the next day — after it had landed in Brisbane.

Qantas have played down the incident, saying only paint was taken from the fuselage of the plane — and it was not pierced.

The incident follows several similar safety breaches in recent weeks.

The Transport Workers’ Union is now calling on the Federal Transport Minister to begin a multi-agency investigation into Qantas’ safety systems because they are “concerned that passengers and workers lives are being put at risk.”

However, Qantas head of engineering Scott McConnell said the incident was a “minor event” and said at no point passenger’s safety was put at risk.

A scrape left on a Qantas Boeing 787 that was hit by a baggage loader and not reported before takeoff in Darwin. Picture: Supplied

“Our ground handler reported that it had discovered minor damage to one of its baggage loaders during a routine inspection on Sunday.

“A review of CCTV showed that, unbeknown to the operator, the baggage loader touched one of our Boeing 787 aircraft the previous day.

“As soon as it was reported to us, the aircraft was inspected in Brisbane, and engineers discovered a superficial scrape to the paintwork. Engineers used specialist equipment to confirm that there was no damage to the fuselage of the aircraft.”

It is believed the damage was caused when a belt loader hit the plane.

It is not clear why the worker did not report the incident initially.

The worker is understood to have been stood down while an investigation is carried out.

A similar incident occurred late last month after a baggage carrier crashed into a plane at Darwin Airport which forced a flight to Perth to be cancelled.

Menzies Group provides ground handling services to Qantas Group in Darwin.