A Qantas pilot on a packed flight from Sydney to Auckland was forced to issue an urgent mayday call after reports of a suspected fire in the cargo hold.
The trans-Tasman Qantas flight QFA141 left Sydney about 7am on Friday and landed around 11.47am local time in Auckland, New Zealand.
More than 150 passengers were caught up in the mid-flight emergency, with 16 firetrucks and ambulances on standby on the tarmac when the plane touched down.
Four Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter choppers were also deployed to the scene.
Paramedics treated two patients, who didn’t need hospitalisation.
No other injuries were reported.
Qantas said pilots received intermittent indication about a potential fire in the cargo hold during the three hour flight.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that there was no fire in the cargo hold.
A Qantas pilot on a flight from Sydney to Auckland issued an urgent mayday call on Friday morning (pictured, a flight map)
Multiple fire trucks and ambulances were on standby on the tarmac in Auckland
There were no initial reports from crew of smoke in the cabin.
‘The pilots followed standard procedures and notified authorities through a mayday call,’ the spokesperson told Daily Mail.
‘The aircraft landed safely at Auckland Airport and passengers have disembarked.
‘Preliminary investigations report that there was no fire in the front cargo hold.
‘Our engineers will inspect the aircraft to determine the cause.’
Among those on the flight was Troy Balzan, who travelled to Auckland to cheer on the Australian Wallabies in Saturday’s rugby Test match against All Blacks at Eden Park.
‘It was a very good welcome,’ he told the New Zealand Herald.
‘I was just waiting for the water to come on and the slides, but that didn’t happen.
More than 150 Qantas passengers were on board during Friday’s mid-flight emergency (stock image)
‘They just said there was a smoke alarm that had gone off in the cargo bay and we’re just taking precautions and things… they were very good about it all, kept us informed and we landed all safely.’
Another passenger added: ‘I could tell on everyone’s faces when the flight attendants were rushing up and down and then everyone was like turning their heads like, ‘Oh, what’s going on?”
Airport staff described the scenes inside the terminal as ‘chaotic’.
An Auckland Airport spokesperson warned that there could be ‘slight’ delays for departing and arriving flights.
