Qantas plane’s priority landing after smoke smelt in cockpit

A Qantas plane was forced to turn back mid-flight and land at a major airport after smoke was reportedly smelt in the cockpit.

A Qantas plane destined for Canberra was forced to turn back mid-flight to Sydney after smoke was reportedly smelt in the cockpit.

Emergency airport fire crews met the plane on the tarmac after it was given a priority landing at Sydney airport on Thursday.

The plane landed safely, and all passengers and crew evacuated the plane without incident.

A Qantas plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Sydney airport after smoke was reportedly smelt in the cockpit. Picture: Christian Gilles / NCA NewsWire

“One of our Sydney to Canberra flights returned to Sydney yesterday morning after crew reported an unusual smell,” the Qantas spokeswoman said.

“It’s standard practice for fire services to attend a priority landing.

“No passengers were impacted by the smell and were re-accommodated on flights yesterday morning.

“Our engineers are checking the aircraft.”

The mid-air scare came less than 24 hours before Sydney airport was forced to shutdown multiple runways on Friday due to windy conditions.

Qantas is assessing where the smell came from. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

The decision caused chaos for those on school holiday looking to escape Sydney.

Airservices Australia executed runway closures at 7am on Friday that Virgin Australia said would remain in place until late afternoon.

Despite all airlines being impacted by the weather event, it is believed only domestic flights were cancelled, albeit some had experienced delays by 11am.

This led many passengers to question the circumstances around the 48 flight cancellations.

An Airservices Australia spokesman insisted, however, that the decision was “purely weather and safety-related”.

Strong westerly winds of up to 70km/h were being recorded at the airport on Friday.

Originally published as Qantas plane’s priority landing after smoke smelt in cockpit