A Qantas flight from Singapore to London has been diverted to Baku, Azerbaijan, because of a technical issue in the cockpit.
Flight QF1 departed from Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 at 12.44am yesterday, following a delay of 49 minutes.
Several flight trackers online, including the Swedish Flightradar24 website, said the Heathrow-bound aircraft began squawking “7700” – the communications code for an emergency – at around 10.15am (Singapore time), and made a U-turn in Georgian airspace near the capital Tbilisi.
The Airbus A380, which came into service in August 2009, then landed at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku at 11.07am.
“Our flight from Singapore to London has made an unscheduled landing at Baku airport in Azerbaijan after pilots received an intermittent fault indicator in the cockpit,” said a Qantas spokesman in response to queries.
“Engineers will inspect the aircraft prior to it continuing its journey.”
Ruth Baker, 50, an Australian who was on the flight with her two children aged 10 and 12, said that about 10 hours into the flight, her son noticed on the flight tracker that the plane was doing a 180° turn.
“Shortly after, the captain announced that there was an intermittent indicator of concern with regard to the cargo bay.
“He was calm and informative, assuring us that we were safe, but to be 100% cautious, he was turning us back to Baku.” — The Straits Times/ANN
