QF444 Aborted Landing on Monday

[Danfeng Qian]

Flight number: QF444
Operator: Qantas Airways
From: Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport
To: Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport
Depart: 15:30 (Scheduled) 15:39 (Actual, missing four passengers)
Arrival: 16:50 (Scheduled) 17:16 (Actual)
Plane Type: Boeing 767-336
Registration number: VH-ZXA
Passenger load: Full in economy

The plane took off heading west in Melbourne. There were some turbulences because of the rain in Melbourne. After that, the whole flight was quite smooth.

The plane did an S curve turn above Royal National Park area. It's quite typical way for landing northbound towards 34L. When I flew SQ in June, the Boeing 777-300ER did the same way. When the plane flew over Cronulla (I could see Caltex oil container there), it started to shake like a pendulum. The pilots adjusted the plane twice, and it became stable. Then the plane descended to land. The two main gears touched the runway (because I heard the loud noise). Around 2-3 seconds later, the engines suddenly accelerated, the plane was pulled off and flew toward Homebush. The captain reported it was caused by strong cross wind. The air traffic control tower change the direction for landing. It did a big U turn in northern suburbs, experienced couple of more cross wind, and finalized a standard landing on 16L.