Qantas plane landed safely after Mayday call over Pacific

sydney – A Qantas flight from New Zealand to Sydney landed safely on a single engine after issuing a Mayday call over the Pacific on Wednesday.

Qantas Flight 144, carrying 145 passengers, landed at Sydney Airport from Auckland, New Zealand, after a 3.5-hour flight between the neighboring countries’ most populous cities.

A Qantas statement said the Boeing 737-838 had “problems” with one of its two engines about an hour from Sydney.

A state of emergency declaration is issued when a flight is in serious and imminent danger and urgent assistance is required, but before the flight lands, a PAN-PAN ) was downgraded.

Qantas said the pilot had shut down the engine, but did not disclose the problem.

Qantas said, “Engine outages on board are rare and not uncommon for passengers, but our pilots are trained to manage them safely and aircraft are not flown on one engine for long periods of time. It is designed to do so,” he said.

Passengers told reporters in Sydney that they were told the engine had failed when they got off the plane.

They described their experience of engine failure as a “slight shudder” and “bumpy turbulence”. Some reported hearing a bang.

Sydney Airport said emergency services, including firefighters, ambulances and police, were on standby as a precaution.

Neil Hanford, chairman of Strategic Aviation Solutions, a Sydney-based industry consultancy, said the 737 could fly quickly and land safely on a single engine.