Qantas Sydney to Perth flight evacuated after cabin fills with smoke

Passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Perth had to evacuate via slides after the cabin began filling with smoke.

A Qantas flight bound for Perth had to turn back shortly after takeoff from Sydney airport this morning as pungent fumes filled the cabin. Passengers were forced to evacuate the plane via the emergency slides. Picture: ABC

Passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney to Perth have evacuated via slides after the Airbus A330 was forced to return as the cabin filled with smoke. Qantas said flight 575 returned to Sydney shortly after takeoff on Sunday morning due to a hydraulic issue.

“Once back at the gate, the captain made the decision to evacuate the aircraft as a precaution and three emergency slides were deployed,” the airline said in a statement.

An Aviation Fire Rescue truck attends the scene Picture: Jonathan Ng

“Passengers were evacuated through both the slides and normal exits.” One passenger described the incident on Twitter as “terrifying”. “Just had to evacuate my flight to Perth after engineering issues. Everyone had to exit the plane via slide onto Sydney tarmac after the cabin filled with smoke and the captain screamed evacuate,” she tweeted.

Just had to evacuate my flight to Perth after engineering issues. Everyone had to exit the plane via slide onto Sydney tarmac after the cabin filled with smoke and the captain screamed evacuate. Terrifying.

— Ally Kemp (@politic_ally) December 14, 2019

Another passenger, Sydney mechanic Rahman Akbari, told The Daily Telegraph that the captain appeared calm but it was a “little bit” scary when the crew began yelling “evacuate, evacuate” on the tarmac.

Workers inspect the QF575 following the evacuation Picture: Jonathan Ng

“Initially it was just the smell, we could smell something but after a few minutes this fume starting building up in the cabin,” he told the newspaper. Qantas says engineers are inspecting the aircraft and more information will be made available shortly.

AAP