Emergency services scrambled from as far away as Whangārei to Auckland’s international airport after a pilot made a mayday call an hour into a flight from Sydney.
The trans-Tasman flight QFA141 left Australia this morning and landed around 11.47am at Auckland.
“A mayday call was issued by the pilot because of intermittent flashing of the cargo hold fire indicator,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
The plane, a Boeing 737, has since landed and the 156 passengers have disembarked. Ambulance staff treated two patients in a minor condition but did not need to transport them to hospital.
The Qantas spokesperson said, “The pilots followed standard procedures and notified authorities through a mayday call.
“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.”
Sydney resident Troy Balzan was on the flight to watch the All Blacks play the Wallabies at Eden Park tomorrow.
“There was probably about 15 fire brigade trucks there and it was a very good welcome,” he told the Herald.
“I was just waiting for the water to come on and the slides, but that didn’t happen.
“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.
“I’m gonna have 400 beers because we have to catch up.”
Couple Fuschia Bituniwaidranu and Mitchell Greenaway, both 19, were heading back home from Indonesia. The flight attendants stopped serving food about an hour into the flight.
“The pilot announced that there was a blinking light on this dashboard that signalled heat,” Bituniwaidranu said.
“They had an alert that there was some sort of smoke or heat coming from somewhere.
“We were nervous but we were close to home so that’s what kept me having faith.”
They said other passengers seemed nervous also.
“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?’ Greenaway said.
They said they had “a bit of a rough landing”.
A spokesperson from Fire and Emergency said earlier 16 fire trucks were responding to the incident after they were alerted at 11.05am.
Fire crews from Auckland International Airport Rescue, Mangere, Papatoetoe, Onehunga, Otara, Otahuhu, Manurewa, Ellerslie, Mount Roskill, Papakura were at the airport.
Around a dozen St John ambulances and support vehicles were also queued waiting with lights flashing on the edge of the tarmac.
A St John spokesman said they were notified at 10.46am and had multiple units on scene.
A spokesperson from Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter said they were called by Rescue Coordination Centre to assist at Auckland Airport, where four of their helicopters were involved.
Two of the helicopters were locally sourced from Auckland, while two more were scrambled down from Whangārei.
Moments after the aircraft landed, the plane moved off the runway and taxied a short distance away where it has remained for time.
It moved to a spot far from the terminal with the rescue vehicles following.
Auckland Airport confirmed emergency services were on standby earlier this morning for an inbound aircraft that had reported issues.
“The aircraft has now landed safely,” said a spokesperson.
”The airfield is now returning to normal but there may be some slight delays for departing and arriving flights.“
A video posted online showed fire trucks following a support vehicle in the direction of the plane. Ambulances are also seen in the foreground of the video.
Onlookers sit against the glass at the arrivals gate, watching the incident unfold.
A worker at Auckland Airport described the scene inside the terminal as “chaotic”.
The Auckland Airport was 18C at 12.55pm, MetService forecasts said.
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