Qantas has been forced to apologise to customers again after a flight issue left passengers stranded on the tarmac in the Gold Coast for five hours with no food or water.
Boeing 737 flight QF596 was grounded last night when its steering was impacted by an issue in the aircraft’s hydraulic system.
Customers said they were left sitting on the runway at Gold Coast Airport for five hours after landing from Sydney at 8.30pm.
About 120 customers were reportedly stranded inside the plane, with no food or water handed around during the ordeal.
Firefighters and specialist engineers were called in to assess the issue before the plane was towed.
“I am so disappointed in Qantas services … rubbish … we’ve been on a plane for five hours,” one customer told 9News.
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Nine flights were impacted last night by the issue, with seven diverted to Brisbane.
Two more landed at Coolangatta later in the evening, while two flights out of the Gold Coast were cancelled.
Qantas has apologised for the issue.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and would like to thank our customers for their patience while we organised for the aircraft to be manually towed,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
