Qantas’ Sydney to London double decker jumbo QF1 flight has been forced to land in Baku, capital of central Asian nation Azerbaijan last night, after a smoke detector went off in the cargo hold, reports Michael Sainsbury.
Qantas has scrambled to dispatch an A380 double decker jumbo to Baku, where 385 passengers are stranded after their flight from Singapore to London was forced into an emergency landing.
The aircraft VH-OQD left Sydney today at 10.40am to fly directly to Baku, after Qantas spent the night gaining the requisite take off and landing permissions needed for an international flight.
The pilot of Qantas flight QF verbally issued a mayday and squawked the emergency 7700 code on his transponder to alert all nearby aircraft and airports when it was flying over the former Soviet state of Georgia. The aircraft would have to land at the closest airport that was capable of accommodating the largest commercial aircraft in the world. That airport was at Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan which required a u turn by the flight crew.
The emergency landing of the aircraft serial number VH-OQH, is the worst incident for a Qantas international airline in years, a Qantas source told MWM, and comes after warnings from engineers and pilots that the company is pushing its fleet too hard amid a shortage of engineers on the ground in Australia.
“In the morning of December 23, an alarm was announced at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport due to the emergency landing of the plane belonging to the airline “Qantas Airways”, Local news service Trend reported after being advised by the press service of Heydar Aliyev International Airport on Friday.
“According to the information, the “Airbus A380” of the airline flying on the Singapore-London route sent an emergency landing request to the Baku airport due to smoke in the cargo compartment.”
“Our flight from Singapore to London has made an unscheduled landing at Baku Airport in Azerbaijan after the aircraft intermittently alerted the pilots to the potential of smoke in the cargo hold. Although it was considered likely to be a sensor fault, the aircraft diverted to Baku as a safety precaution. Initial investigations have found no evidence of smoke in the cargo hold, “ Qantas said in a statement.
But the fact that a relief aircraft is being sent means that pilots almost certainly set off fire extinguishers in the cargo hold. This requires refueling the extinguishers by certified maintenance engineers.
“Thank you for your ongoing patience while we make arrangements in Baku. We have arranged hotel accommodation for you and are working to make the visa process for your entry into Azerbaijan as seamless as possible,” a Qantas SMS sent to passengers on the light said last night.
“Our operations teams are working hard to get you to London as soon as possible, including seeking the necessary regulatory approvals to send a relief aircraft from Australia and looking at sourcing engineering support from London.We will provide further updates by SMS and email as soon as possible.”
The unprecedented situation will throw the company’s holiday schedule into chaos, along with the Christmas plans of potentially thousands of customers in Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe.
The aircraft now grounded returned to service at Qantas in March, from the Californian desert where it was warehoused along with a number of other A380s and Boeing 787’s during the pandemic. Since then, it has had a few days on the ground for routine maintenance according to Qantas engineers.
Qantas technical staff familiar with the airline and aircraft said that specialised A380 maintenance staff would likely have to be sent from London to Baku to help deal with repairing the aircraft,- or the aircraft would be flown empty to the UAE, London, SIngapore or Sydney for repairs.
A Qantas pilot said the incident would “blow apart Qantas long haul holiday schedules to London and Los Angeles”.
It will compound woes for Qantas passengers in London where Customs Service staff are on strike which is already creating widespread havoc, he said.
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Michael Sainsbury is a former China correspondent who has lived and worked across North, Southeast and South Asia for 11 years. Now based in regional Australia, he has more than 25 years’ experience writing about business, politics and human rights in Australia and the Indo-Pacific. He has worked for News Corp, Fairfax, Nikkei and a range of independent media outlets and has won multiple awards in Australia and Asia for his reporting. He is a fierce believer in the importance of independent media.