Second ‘Qantas engine explosion’ “crisis” leaves passengers terrified

LONDON - Passengers were left terrified after air crew shouted for them to adopt the crash position when a second Qantas jet was hit with engine trouble after leaving Singapore airport today.

The 747 jumbo reportedly ran into trouble 20 minutes after take-off on its way to Sydney when passengers heard a loud bang and saw flames or sparks coming from an engine, but QF6 immediately returned to Singapore airport and made a safe landing.

It is believed several of the passengers were from the Qantas superjet that had made a dramatic landing in Singapore the day before, the Daily Mail reports.

One of the passengers said that passengers started to panic following the crew’s instructions, who yelled ‘crisis!’ and ordered everyone to be on their seats as the aircraft prepared to return to Changi airport.

“Around 20 minutes into the flight we heard a loud bang and the pilot asked the passengers to put our heads into the brace position. It was a very big shock to us, especially after what happened yesterday,” another passenger said.

Earlier, Qantas Airline grounded its six A380s after an engine exploded on a flight to Sydney shortly after take-off from Singapore, just six minutes from Changi Airport and still climbing when the first of two loud bangs shook the cabin.

On Friday, its CEO Alan Joyce had rejected the ‘outrageous’ union concerns over the outsourcing of maintenance of its aircraft, and added that the explosion of the engine on a Qantas flight was most likely a “material failure or a design issue” of the engine. (ANI)