Qantas 747 Engine Blows Up; SFO Emergency Landing
A Qantas 747 heading to Sydney with with 212 passengers and a crew of 18 was forced to make an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport early Tuesday after an engine exploded in flight over the Pacific, authorities said.
Qantas Airways Flight No. 74 had departed SFO around 11:10 p.m. and had been in the air for about 45 minutes when passengers heard a loud bang and felt the plane vibrate.
Among the passengers was Neil Dufty, who was on the flight heading back to his home north of Sydney.
"We were about half an hour into the flight and there was a very strong shutter on the right hand side of the plane," he told KTVU. "It wasn't turbulence. It seemed that there was some pretty serious damage. People on the right hand side of the plane seemed very shocked. Apparently, there were flames coming out of the engine."
Fellow passenger Elizabeth Thomas heard a loud noise.
"I heard a very strange noise," Thomas said. "It's hard to describe. I don't travel that much but I knew it was very wrong. The staff looked a little alarmed and began to move very quickly."
Nolan Goldstein also knew some had gone wrong
"I heard a thud, a bump and the plane veered off to the left," he told KTVU. "It was very uncertain for a period of time until the captain announced that we had an engine that blew up…It was a real uncomfortable vibration at first and then the plane began to shake a bit."
The explosion left a huge, gaping hole in the No. 4 engine. However, Qantas Airways spokesman Simon Rushton said there was no fire, but an engine surge can often cause what appear to be flames.
Dufty said the flight crew quieted down the initial panic.
"The captain came on and assured everybody that the plane was still relatively safe," he said. "(He said) there was serious damage in one of the engines. We jettisoned some fuel and turned around. The captain made a very good landing. We all cheered."
Airport duty manager Chris Davison said the pilot immediately turned the plane around and headed to SFO with emergency crews scrambled to the runway. The four-engine Boeing 747 was able to make a safe emergency landing at 12:45 a.m.
There were no injuries to anyone aboard the plane, Davison said.
"The airline is doing its best to reschedule those passengers," Davison said. In the meantime, the passengers from Flight 74 are staying at area hotels.
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Víctor Lei
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