Sydney Airport delays after Jetstar 787 suffered a damaged tyre on takeoff

Travellers through Sydney Airport faced delays earlier on Wednesday after an incident involving a Jetstar flight.

A Jetstar flight bound for Phuket in Thailand has returned to Sydney Airport after a tyre on the Boeing 787-8 was damaged on takeoff.

Flight JQ27 took off at about 3.20pm and landed back at Sydney just before 5pm after dumping fuel to reach a safe landing weight.

It’s understood the pilots requested a priority landing after becoming aware of the tyre issue shortly after takeoff.

A Boeing 787 has ten wheels, and it’s not clear if foreign object debris (FOD) on the Sydney Airport runway caused the damage.

A Jetstar spokesman said the flight landed “normally” due to a “mechanical issue”.

“Our pilots requested a priority landing and emergency services met the aircraft as a precaution,” he said.

It’s understood the tyre did not burst, but was deflated to an extent.

The flight path of Jetstar flight JQ27 that experienced a damaged tyre on takeoff from Sydney Airport. Source: Flightradar

As a result of the incident, Sydney Airport was warning of delays to domestic flights of up to 70 minutes on Wednesday afternoon.

Several international flights had also been diverted as a result.

A Sydney Airport spokeswoman said the incident had closed the main runway for about 30 minutes to allow the aircraft to land, get towed to the gate and for a runway inspection to take place.

“Normal operations have resumed and while we do not expect any significant disruptions, there may be some delays throughout the evening,” said the spokeswoman.

“We would like to thank passengers for their patience and encourage them to check the status of their flight with their airline or via Sydney Airport’s website.”

Jetstar arranged for all passengers to stay at hotels in Sydney on Wednesday night, with their new flight scheduled for 11.15am on Thursday.

It’s the second time this month a Qantas Group flight has experienced dramas on takeoff in Sydney.

On November 8, a Qantas 737 headed for Brisbane was forced to return to Sydney for an emergency landing after an engine failed on takeoff.

Hot metal debris expelled from the engine started a grassfire along the main runway, causing delays for other flights.

It’s understood the CFM56 engine on the Boeing 737 was within weeks of being removed as a result of trend monitoring which showed it was nearing end of life.

In response to the incident, Qantas removed two other engines from 737s because of their “stage of life”.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the incident.

In a separate issue this week, a Virgin Australia flight from Melbourne to Hobart was forced to turn back when it became apparent to the crew the service would not arrive before a new 10pm curfew.

The service took off on the hour-long flight at 9.23pm, which would’ve given the Boeing 737 little chance of arriving ahead of the curfew introduced six weeks ago for runway works.

It’s understood that when flight VA1330 pushed back, the flight plan showed an arrival time prior to 10pm.

When it became obvious during the service the flight would not touch down in time, the decision was made to return to Melbourne which has been affected by bad weather.

All passengers on flight VA1330 were recovered on an early morning service the next day.