Dubai: A Qantas plane traveling from Melbourne to Dubai was forced to reroute to Sydney after encountering an engine issue halfway into its flight on Tuesday morning.

Flight QF9 had already travelled for hours when the crew noticed a “slight vibration issue” with an engine.  The plane was forced to turn back and managed to land safely at Sydney airport about eight hours after departure.

“One of the engines had a slight vibration issue which was monitored by the crew and also our operations team in Sydney,” Qantas said in a statement sent to Gulf News.

“The aircraft was approximately three hours into its flight from Melbourne to Dubai last night when the captain chose to return the aircraft."

There were 410 passengers on board the A380 aircraft. The plane had departed Melbourne at 11pm on Monday. The crew managed to secure a landing spot in Sydney and landed there at 6.45am on Tuesday.

The passengers were asked to transfer to another A380 aircraft which took off at 9.24am.

 

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A Qantas A-380 takes off in Sydney, Australia. Qantas Airways announced that it has signed a 10-year partnership deal with rival Emirates in a bid to boost the Australian airline’s struggling international business. Image Credit: AP
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Passengers waiting to board watch the distinctive Flying Kangaroo logo on the Australian airline Qantas’s Boeing 767-300 planes, at the domestic departure bay of Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. Image Credit: EPA
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Image Credit: Airline.net
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