Jetstar flight forced to make emergency landing after engine problems

Photo / Supplied

A Jetstar flight to the Gold Coast made an emergency landing on the Pacific island of Guam today.

Flight JQ12, headed from Tokyo's Narita airport to Coolangatta's Gold Coast airport, made the landing after engine problems.

In a statement to news.com.au, Jetstar said the flight made the premature landing following a warning light turning on indicating an issue with the oil pressure. The captain shut down one of the two engines "as a precaution" and diverted to the US territory located 2600 kms south of the Japanese mainland.

The plane landed safely and the 320 Queensland-bound passengers are now being housed overnight in Guam.

The FlightAware tracking website shows the aircraft departing Tokyo and then landing on the remote Pacific island of Guam. Photo / Supplied

"We apologise to our customers for this disruption and we're arranging an alternative aircraft for them to continue their journey to the Gold Coast, where they will arrive early tomorrow," a Jetstar spokeswoman said.

"Safety is our highest priority, so our experienced captain diverted the flight to the closest airport en route to the Gold Coast as a precaution, and it landed safely in Guam where it will be inspected by engineers."

The airline insisted it was a "priority landing" rather than an "emergency landing". Nonetheless, the plane certainly was scheduled to have a stop in Guam en route to Australia.

The route is operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the world's most modern aeroplanes. However, the plans didn't have an easy introduction into service with a number of fires on-board blamed on lithium battery powerpacks.

Boeing 787s are now in service with a number of airlines worldwide with United Airlines, Air India and Japan's All Nippon Airlines, as well as Jetstar, using them on Australian routes.