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Midair faults and turnarounds continue to plague the seemingly cursed Qantas after a flight from Fiji to Sydney was turned around on Sunday due to reports of fumes in the cabin.
Flight QF102 requested a priority landing back at Nadi Airport not long after taking off from Fiji on a trip destined for Sydney, with fumes from the aircraft galley oven cited as the issue.
The Boeing 737-800 with registration VH-VZT landed without incident and the fumes dispersed quickly with no passengers affected.
Qantas thanked passengers for their patience and said it was working to get its customers on new flights as soon as possible.
This is the fifth turnaround and sixth midair incident the airline has suffered in under a week, with three flights on Friday including a Melbourne to Sydney flight, an Adelaide to Melbourne flight and a QantasLink from Melbourne to Canberra.
The day before a plane approaching Fiji had to turn back due to a “mechanical fault.”
The Qantas curse seemed to begin on Wednesday after the airline issued a mayday call due to an engine failure.
The alert on Qantas flight QF144 from Auckland to Sydney was quickly downgraded to a PAN (possible assistance needed) before landing safely at Sydney airport with all 145 passengers arriving unharmed.
The airline has launched several investigations into each case, with some of the aircraft returning to operation the same day as their incidents.
The airline industry suffers from an average of 10,000 turnbacks annually, with Qantas averaging 60.
Whilst no injuries have resulted from the incidents, Qantas was only recently named the safest airline in the world for 2023. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has backed Qantas and its safety management systems, saying the airline has operated in the best interests of customer safety.
