QF 72 Diverted to Learmonth
 

not sure what's happened here but there are injuries.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/qa...1007-4vpd.html

Ohh please:rolleyes: They just reported on Ch 10 news here in Melbourne it was an A320, media get your facts right please this is disgraceful:rolleyes:

3aw radio on the 1700 news said it was a Singapore Airways A320 on it's way to Melbourne:confused:

VH-QPA is the a/c.

the headline on PerthNow news website:

These journalists should be shot!Twice!

http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn...008/oct08/3829

QF has released a statement regarding the incident.

seems QF media department is about as accurate as the MSM itself. :S

it was due in at 1350 but landed at Learmonth at 1330.

From PerthNow...

Damn it, if I'd have known the A380 was doing PER-SIN-PER i would have booked a return trip up there! :p

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...59-948,00.html

Okay so a Qantas A320 with 300 people on board........................

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...145345200.html

Up to 40 people were injured when a passenger jet carrying more than 300 people made an emergency landing near Exmouth following a mid-air incident, West Australian police say.

Sergeant Greg Lambert said the Airbus A320 landed safety at Learmonth Airport, near Exmouth, this afternoon after a mayday call.

"It is understood up to 40 people were injured during a mid-air incident," Sgt Lambert said.

"The nature of the mid-air incident is unknown."

Emergency services and medical staff were at the airport.

Qantas would not immediately confirm the incident involved one of its aircraft.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...145345200.html

Up to 40 people were injured when a passenger jet carrying more than 300 people made an emergency landing near Exmouth following a mid-air incident, West Australian police say.

Sergeant Greg Lambert said the Airbus A320 landed safety at Learmonth Airport, near Exmouth, this afternoon after a mayday call.

"It is understood up to 40 people were injured during a mid-air incident," Sgt Lambert said.

"The nature of the mid-air incident is unknown."

Emergency services and medical staff were at the airport.

Qantas would not immediately confirm the incident involved one of its aircraft.

FACTS
http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn...008/oct08/3829

Sydney, 08 October 2008

Qantas said today that a number of passengers and crew sustained injuries, including fractures and lacerations, on board QF72 this afternoon en route from Singapore to Perth following a sudden change in altitude.

The flight, operated by an A330-300 aircraft with 303 passengers and 10 crew, diverted to Learmonth in Western Australia and landed at approximately 3.30pm local time.

The flight had been due to land in Perth at 3.50pm.

Emergency services, including medical attendants, met the aircraft on landing.

Qantas said there were no details available at this stage as to what caused the altitude change.

Further information will be issued as soon as it is available.

sounds possibly like another decomp incident, or some serious CAT?

The Qantas article states "following a sudden change in altitude"

Would a mayday call be made for "severe mid air turbulence" ?

well unless we've moved forward in time I can assure you its NOT 3:30PM here in the west, its only 2:50pm, the a/c landed at 1330.

Random gossip around the office tends to show that it's just a bumpy flight, so probably just CAT.


"Qantas recommends you keep your seat belt fastened at all times..."

PS. Thanks Montague S for providing _FACTS_ on this rather than the crap coming out of the media.

Well if you're going to pile 300 people onto an A320, you're just asking for trouble.....;)

according to YPPH website the returning flight to Singapore (QF71) has been cancelled.

Qantas Perth spokesperson has just announced two flights will depart Perth for immediately to bring passengers uninjured back to Perth. THE two flights are expected to return later tonight. The RFDS at Jandakot Airport have aircraft on standby if required.
The spokesperson also indicated the aircraft will remain in Learmonth and indicated that crew are amongst those onboard injured.

Cheers GW

ATSB to investigate
 

The ATSB has begun an investigation into the incident:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/newsroom/2008...e/2008_38.aspx

Well i am glad the injuries appear to be minor (broken bones, lacerations etc) and that everyone is relatively ok. Sounds like severe CAT which has i believe been responable for several aircraft crashing due to structural failure. Will be interesting to read the final ATSB report.

Appears 767 VH-ZXC is heading to Learmonth to assist.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f5...asflyer/wx.jpg

:(

VH-ZXC was supposed to operate QF 566 to SYD at 1515, now departing 2315 tonight.

I shouldn't laugh but that is as funny as the A380 doing PER/SIN!

Still, at least they got the manufacturer right so that is a start.

Whatever happened, this again shows why you should have your seatbelt on at all times. Crew are likely to be injured because they are in the galleys or walking through the cabin.

Made the Italian News also ... from Corriere dela Sera
WoW Im impressed...

LO RIFERISCE LA POLIZIA
Australia, 40 feriti in incidente aereo
Il velivolo costretto a un atterraggio di emergenza nello scalo di Exmouth

SYDNEY - Un Airbus A320 della compagnia australiana Qantas con 370 passeggeri a bordo e in volo tra Singapore e l'Australia è stato costretto a un atterraggio di emergenza in un aeroporto della costa nordoccidentale australiana a causa di forti turbolenze. Lo ha riferito la polizia australiana.

FERITI - Dieci passeggeri sono rimasti feriti in modo serio in conseguenza dell'incidente in volo e sono stati ricoverati in un ospedale di Exmouth, mentre le altre persone che si trovavano a bordo sono state ospitate all'aeroporto in attesa di essere prelevati da un altro aereo della Qantas. In precedenza la polizia aveva riferito di una quarantina di persone rimaste complessivamente ferite nell'incidente.


07 ottobre 2008

I just spoke to my boss who was supposed to fly PER-SYD on VH-ZXC and he's been turned away and gone back to his hotel, no indication of when he'll be able to get a flight back to Sydney.

Ah well, it looks like a BFW (boss free week) hehe

Its also made the Polish news

http://www.tvn24.pl/-1,1567633,0,1,k...wiadomosc.html

:D

The news in Hong Kong is correct though:

The Daily Telegraph have still got the aircraft as being an Airbus A380. Utterly hopeless reporting.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html

Okay, so we have confirmed that the reporting isn't great, moving on to the incident...

The quality of the reporting, or inherent lack of, IS the incident....;)

It doesnt matter what a/c type the media say it is. The news to the public is a Qantas plane had to make a emergency landing with injured people on it. Every single incident we get the same "The media said 767 but it was a 737" posts. Get used to it!

TV news & online media is no different to newspapers if you believe everything you read on any subject you are silly.

Cheers

Tim

well said Timba, how about we focus on the incident rather than the way the media is reporting it.

Isn't "lotterywest" a rather unfortunate logo to feature on the back of the Exmouth ambulance?

I think it's on the back of all WA Ambulances - They providing funding with the proceeds of the lotteries.


It surprises me that Qantas hasn't piped up and said the pilot diverted due to the injuries and NOT due to an issue with the aircraft. I would have thought they'd want it known that the aircraft is not an issue in this case. (Assuming that's the case)

M'aidez?
 

Does "MAYDAY" signify that the a/c is imperilled or just that some urgent reason to descend/land exists even if the a/c is quite OK?

That was my question!!!

I have just seen this "Mr O'Callaghan said he understood the incident was caused by "some sort of systems failure"."

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...145345200.html

Karl O'Callaghan is the WA Police Commissioner

From http://www.atsb.gov.au/newsroom/2008...e/2008_38.aspx

Early reports indicate that three cabin crew and approximately 30 passengers sustained injuries, including about 15 with serious injuries, namely broken bones and lacerations.

So it would APPEAR that this was not weather related

so CAT isn't to do with the weather now?

I think Andrew was saying that a "systems failure" has nothing to do with weather/CAT...

.

Correct, that was my reading of what the WA cop said.

ATSB report will tell all with FACTS

Good old Montague always jumping down peoples throats :p

Karl is a cop, not a/c investigator! ;) he's about as reliable as the media saying its an A380.

Well I think he was quoted as saying it was an A320 OR A380 at first... :)

Now a few other details which may or maynot be true that have come out in various article this morning. Not sure how passengers know how many metres they fell.. Also one report saying the lights went out first..... Again by no means saying these are facts

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...70-661,00.html

"He said word spread among the passengers that the aircraft had plunged more than 3,000 metres in a matter of seconds."

“The people who were standing were the ones who got hurt the most. To be honest think it's a lesson in wearing seat belts.''

“I was strapped in. A few around me did not have seat belts on. They hit the roof and it was really quite nasty.''

Neither the ATSB nor Qantas would confirm that air turbulence was responsible.

An insider said the jet's flight computer may have "tripped", but Qantas discounted that explanation.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/...014090,00.html

The headline here was 'I thought we were going to die'......

He said his son had called him when the plane landed to tell him that the lights went out in the plane before passengers heard a loud bang and the aircraft suddenly dropped.

Vertical drop causes
 

The passenger reports coming out this morning all suggest that the aircraft just dropped vertically without warning, leaving passengers pinned against the ceiling only to be slammed down when the descent was arrested, wih some being injured by collapsing overhead compartments.

That kind of vertical drop does not sound like something that an a/c's control surfaces can trigger when it's travelling in level cruise at FL39 or thereabouts. It sounds more like some kind of microburst phenomenon or similar massive downdraft. Maybe the doppler wasn't working properly and didn't pick it up, or it was just a severe form of classic CAT.

With global warming I predict we are going to see an increasing number of incidents like these.