Sydney, Oct 1 (IANS) – A Qantas flight bound for Johannesburg was forced to return to Sydney on Tuesday after experiencing a technical fault, the airline confirmed.
Flight QF63, operated by an Airbus A380 with about 400 passengers on board, departed Sydney Airport at 10:14 a.m. local time. Around four hours into the journey, the aircraft turned back due to an issue with its satellite communications system. It landed safely at Sydney Airport shortly after 7:30 p.m.
A Qantas spokesperson said no mayday or emergency call was issued during the flight. The airline added that the aircraft would undergo a full inspection by its engineering team to identify the cause of the fault.
All affected passengers were provided accommodation and rebooked on a replacement service scheduled to depart on Wednesday afternoon.
The incident follows another in the region less than a week ago. On September 26, pilots of a Qantas flight to Auckland issued a mayday alert after receiving warnings of a potential cargo hold fire. The plane landed safely at Auckland Airport, where 16 fire trucks and ambulances were on standby.
Qantas later clarified that preliminary checks showed no fire in the cargo hold, though engineers were continuing inspections. The mayday incident caused brief delays to flight operations at Auckland Airport.
