TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Qantas Airways aircraft were forced to do an emergency landing in Western Australia on Monday morning, after it reported a failure in its air-circulation systems.
The Airbus A380 jet was en route to Sydney from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, when its air-conditioning unit shut down around 700 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia.
The captain then requested a clearance for priority landing at Perth International Airport. The plane then descended to 2,700 meters from its cruising altitude at 12,000 meters in order to stabilise the cabin's air pressure.
The stricken aircraft was then ordered into a holding pattern for 90 minutes to allow the jetliner to descend to a lower altitude, as well as to burn excess fuel, which allowed it to safely land in Perth around 90 minutes when the problem was first noticed by the flight crew.
Had the plane continued on its programmed flight path to Sydney, the entire cabin would've been depressurised due to the fault, according to a Xinhua report.
"Qantas Airways Flight QF2 en route to Sydney from Dubai has been diverted to Perth due to a fault with its' air conditioning system. The fault was discovered around an hour outside of Perth," according to an official statement released by Qantas on Monday morning.
"As a precautionary measure, the captain descended to 10,000 feet from its initial cruising altitude, before asking ground controllers for an emergency landing clearance," it continued.
"As the flight crews have exceeded their maximum working hour for the day, all passengers were compensated with an overnight accommodation, and will continue on to their final destinations on the next available flight," finished the statement.
ANTARA | HEPPY RATNA
