Qantas plane damaged by turbulance

[Mike_C]

Reported this morning in "The Press" - Christchurch NZ

A trans-Tasman Qantas flight to Christchurch landed safely at 12.15pm yesterday after being damaged when it hit severe turbulence.

"There were no injuries or adverse effects to passengers or crew," a Qantas spokeswoman said.

However, the plane was left grounded in Christchurch for repairs last night.

It meant the Boeing 767-300's return flight to Sydney yesterday afternoon was cancelled, and passengers were moved to other flights.

After an inspection, engineers "weren't satisfied that the damage to the aircraft was insignificant", the airline spokeswoman said.

MetService aviation forecaster Rachel Kirkman said conditions across New Zealand had been ideal for severe turbulence. The service had received a report from the crew of a Qantas jet saying there was severe turbulence to the east of the Southern Alps.

Upper-air forecasts had warned pilots of the risk of severe turbulence since lunchtime on Tuesday, she said.

"Turbulence is difficult to forecast but it was a good setup for it yesterday, with strong north-westerlies and lee waves above the Alps ... Where you get the breaking waves, you get severe turbulence," Kirkman said.

If you were on the Qantas flight hit by turbulence, please contact reporters@press.co.nz

[David McNeil]

"If you were on the Qantas flight hit by turbulence, please contact reporters@press.co.nz "

........ so we can blow it out of proportion and edit your comments to make it sound like everyone was going to die.

[Chris W]

I was on the Jetstar flight (150 i think) departing just after the Qantas flight CHC-SYD that day. All pax I heard were moved to the EK flight later in the evening.