SYDNEY, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Another Qantas flight was forced to turn around for engine troubles but this time birds, not equipment, were to blame, officials said.
Birds struck one of the four engines on Qantas Flight QF64 from Johannesburg to Sydney just after takeoff Tuesday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Wednesday. The plane had 171 passengers.
Airline officials said the bird strike did considerable damage to the engine on the Boeing 747, forcing the aircraft to remain in Johannesburg indefinitely.
"There was a bird strike ... and the flight crew followed procedure and the aircraft was stable and able to land safely," a Qantas spokesman said. "Our priority was landing the aircraft safely and giving our engineers time to inspect (the affected engine)."
Related
Since the beginning of November, several Qantas planes have experienced mechanical difficulties that forced the aircraft to either turn back or be delayed.
Smoke in the cockpit forced a Qantas airliner traveling to Argentina to return to Sydney Monday. 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. A Melbourne-bound flight returned to Perth Friday after a member of the flight crew reported a vibration in the Boeing 767's No.1 engine.
On Nov. 5, a Singapore-to-Sydney 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 in-flight engine explosion on QF32 from Singapore to Sydney. Both Qantas and engine-maker Rolls Royce are investigating the incident.
