Second emergency grounds Qantas jet

[Rockville]

A QANTAS jumbo jet - the same plane involved in a frightening mid-air explosion last July - has made an emergency landing in Perth because of a fuel leak.
The Boeing 747-400 was diverted to Perth and touched down about 3.30pm today after flight crew discovered the plane was leaking fuel during its flight from Singapore to Sydney, Perth Now reports.

"As a precaution one of the flight's crew shut down one of the four engines," a Qantas spokesman said.

"This was not a flight safety issue. Our engineers in Perth will now assess the aircraft."

A Qantas spokeswoman said there "was absolutely no link" between the two incidents and there was no danger to passengers in the latest incident.

"One of the plane's engines was shut down as a precaution when the leak showed up on the controls," the spokeswoman said.

She said it was hoped the plane could be checked today and cleared to fly passengers to Sydney, where it had been due to arrive at about 7pm (AEST).

Otherwise, passengers would be accommodated overnight at hotels in Perth.

"We hope to get them on their journey pretty quickly," she said.
"But if that can't be done, accommodation will be found."

The Boeing 747-400 was carrying 290 passengers on board.

Qantas has confirmed the plane, which was today flying the QF32 service, was the same ageing aircraft involved in a mid-air explosion over the South China Sea on July 25 last year but denied the incidents were linked.

In that mid-air incident, an oxygen tank exploded and ripped a gaping hole in the plane’s fuselage.

It occurred at 29,000ft on a flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne, resulting in the cabin depressurising, oxygen masks deploying and forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in Manila.

The plane, which was flying at about 29,000ft over the South China Sea and plunged to 10,000ft in an emergency descent, landed with no reports of injuries to the 346 passengers and 19 crew.

The Sunday Times, September 02, 2009 07:08pm