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Troubles force Qantas plane to land

SYDNEY, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Smoke in the cockpit forced a Qantas airliner traveling to Argentina to return to Sydney Monday, the fifth such incident since Nov. 4, airline officials said.

Qantas Flight QF17 to Buenos Aires, a Boeing 747 with 199 passengers and 21 crew members aboard, was forced to return to Sydney about an hour after takeoff after an electrical problem filled the cockpit with smoke, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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"About an hour into the flight we suddenly did a 180-degree turn and you could see the wing section and while it looked like there was smoke coming out of it, it was actually the fuel dump taking place," passenger Teague Czislowski said.

Czislowski, telling the newspaper the passengers weren't told why they were returning to Sydney, said the flight circled Botany Bay for "what seemed like ages so they could keep dumping fuel."

The plane landed smoothly and only when it was on the ground did passengers realize what happened, Czislowski said.

On Saturday, a Qantas flight from Sydney to Melbourne was delayed for an hour because of a missing screw, and a QantasLink flight to Sydney from Coffs Harbour was delayed for five hours after a warning light indicated a problem with the engines.

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A Melbourne-bound flight returned to Perth Friday after member of the flight crew reported a vibration in the Boeing 767's No.1 engine, the Morning Herald reported.

On Nov. 5, a Singapore-to-Sydney a Boeing 747-400 flight had to turn back after a "contained engine failure," the company said.

All of Qantas's Airbus A380s are grounded after the Nov. 4 midair engine explosion on QF32 from Singapore to Sydney. Both Qantas and engine-maker Rolls Royce are investigating the incident.

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