This afternoon, a Qantas Boeing 737 suffered a contained engine failure on takeoff from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, forcing an emergency landing and possibly sparking a large grass fire on the airfield. The aircraft was headed for Brisbane and, after circling over Botany Bay, returned to the airport and landed safely, with no injuries reported. A 737 engine failure and emergency landing On Friday, Qantas flight QF520 departed around 13:00 (02:00 UTC) from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) when passengers heard a loud bang during takeoff.
The aircraft, a 2005 Boeing 737-800 , registration VH-VYH and MSN 34180, continued flying for around ten minutes over Botany Bay before returning and making an emergency landing. At 13:50 (02:50 UTC), Qantas issued this statement from Chief Pilot Captain Richard Tobiano : "One of our flights to Brisbane experienced a suspected engine failure after takeoff from Sydney Airport this afternoon. After circling for a short period, the aircraft landed safely at Sydney Airport.
Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this, and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were followed. We understand this would have been a distressing experience for customers and we will be contacting all customers this afternoon to provide support." At 14:17 (03:17 UTC), the statement was updated with this additional information: "Qantas engineers have conducted a preliminary inspection of the engine and confirmed it was a contai.
