Qantas plane carrying mine workers careers off runway at Newman Airport

Airport into the Pilbara’s major iron ore town closed after incident as cyclone impact washes across WA’s north.

There were no injuries in the incident, according to a QantasLink spokesman, but the airline has reported the incident to air safety investigators.

A Qantas plane carrying mine workers has slid off the runway at Newman Airort, forcing the closure of the airport into the Pilbara’s major iron ore town as the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Blake washes across WA’s north.

There were no injuries in the incident, according to a QantasLink spokesperson, but the airline has reported the incident to air safety investigators.

All 80 passengers and crew on the Fokker 100 aircraft exited by the stairs on the runway safety area at the end of the Newman airstrip.

It came as heavy rain from the former tropical cyclone temporarily disrupted mines in WA’s iron ore heartland, dumping more than 150mm onto Newman and surrounding areas over a 24 hour period.

It is understood operations at BHP’s Whaleback and Eastern Ridge mines were temporarily halted due to localised flooding, and rail operations were also disrupted due to water levels around BHP’s tracks.

Fortescue’s Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mines were also in the path of the tropical low, with Australian Bureau of Meteorology figures suggesting the vicinity copped more than 100mm of rain over a day.

The flooding also closed Marble Bar road, and prompted police warnings to drivers in the Newman area.

And while the Kimberley region of WA also saw local road closures through flooding, the deluge did not force the closure of the Victoria Highway to the Northern Territory.

It is currently the only sealed road linking WA to other states, given the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor in the state’s south is closed between Norseman and Caiguna due to bushfires raging through the Goldfields-Esperance region.

The tropical low is still moving south east and is expected to keep dumping heavy rain as it moves into the Sandy Desert and further south towards the Goldfields.

Additional reporting: AAP