Australian investigators have opened a probe into an engine failure incident on a Qantas Boeing 737-800 that was flying from Sydney to Brisbane.
The aircraft was operating flight QF520 on 8 November when the incident occurred after take-off, forcing it to make an emergency landing.
Flight tracking data indicates that the 737 involved is VH-VYH, and it took off from Sydney airport at around 12:35 local time. Qantas says the engine failure happened shortly after it took off, prompting the aircraft to dump fuel before making an emergency landing back at Sydney about 30m later.
According to media reports citing passengers on board, a “loud bang” was heard after take-off. It is unclear how many passengers and crew were on board on the aircraft.
“Qantas engineers have conducted a preliminary inspection of the engine and confirmed it was a contained engine failure. While customers would have heard a loud bang, there was not an explosion,” the Oneworld operator states.
Meanwhile, Sydney Airport says the departure of the aircraft “coincided with a grass fire along the eastern side” of the airport’s parallel runway.
While the operator was unable to confirm if the engine failure was the cause of the fire, it closed off the runway for inspections and firefighting. Sydney’s main runway remains operational, it adds.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has began investigations into the incident and is in the process of collecting evidence.
”At the ATSB’s request [Qantas] has quarantined the aircraft’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders. Once downloaded, information from those recorders will be analysed at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra,” the agency states.
The 737 (MSN34180) was delivered to Qantas in 2005 and is powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B engines.
