Emergency services responded to a Mayday call made by a Qantas airplane while flying from New Zealand to Sydney on Wednesday. At 3:30 pm (430 GMT), Qantas Flight 144 was scheduled to land at Sydney Airport. Its engine reportedly failed, according to several sources. Two engines power the Boeing 737 aircraft.
New South Wales Ambulance confirmed that its paramedics were responding to the Mayday alert. Flightradar indicated that the flight was currently over the Pacific Ocean. According to Airservices Australia, a Mayday call is issued when a flight is in serious and imminent danger and immediate assistance is required.
safe touchdown of #quantas flight #QF144
further details follow@SamChuiPhotos pic.twitter.com/ROoxWTwHic— Ted Perton (@tedperton) January 18, 2023
The Guardian quoted a representative for the airline Qantas as saying, “About an hour from its destination it experienced a problem with one of its engines.” He added, “It is now scheduled to land in Sydney at approximately 3.30pm and will be met by emergency services, as per standard procedure.”
The Qantas representative also said, “Initially a Mayday was issued, it has now been downgraded to a PAN (Potential Assistance Required). We will share more details about this incident when the aircraft is on the ground.” Will happen and will be assessed by our engineers.” ,
According to a report in The Guardian, emergency crews were on standby at the airport when the plane landed. However, the details of the incident are not yet known and the authorities are yet to make a statement on the same.
with PTI inputs