Qantas Passengers Suffer Broken Bones During In-Flight Altitude Drop
October 7, 2008 by national
Filed under Stories of Interest
Australian investigators have said that a faulty stabilization system was behind a Qantas jet losing altitude on Tuesday, causing scores of people to be injured. Officials from the Air Transport Safety Bureau said on Wednesday that warning signals went off after the problem was detected in the system that helps keep the plane stable and level during flight.
Pilots were in the midst of addressing the problem when the plane dived, according to the preliminary finding.
Thirty-six people suffered broken bones and other injuries when a Qantas plane carrying more than 300 passengers was involved in a “mid-air incident” and was forced to make an emergency landing in Western Australia Tuesday, the Times of London reported.
Crew members issued a “mayday” call and the pilot diverted the aircraft when a sudden change of altitude caused problems while the Airbus A330-300 was traveling in what is known as “level flight.”
The plane, carrying 303 passengers and 10 crew members, was traveling from Singapore to Perth in Western Australia when it was forced to land at Learmonth airport near the remote coastal town of Exmouth, 745 miles north of Perth at 1:45 p.m. local time.
About 15 of the passengers were listed as having serious injuries. A spokesman for Western Australia Police told Times Online that the injured passengers, most of whom were at the rear of the plane, were treated by nurses at the scene and would then be transferred to a local hospital.
“A number of passengers and crew sustained injuries, including fractures and lacerations, on board QF72 this afternoon en route from Singapore to Perth following a sudden change in altitude,” Qantas said.
