Qantas plane travelling from Melbourne to Sydney forced to turn around mid-flight

A packed Qantas plane travelling from Melbourne to Sydney has been forced to turn around mid-flight just days after another aircraft issued a mayday call. 

The plane is understood to have suffered an engineering issue. 

Passengers have since revealed how they heard a loud bang as the left engine failed mid-air – however many remained blissfully unaware until touchdown. 

Paramedics rushed to Sydney Airport on Wednesday to meet the passengers as 200,000 people tracked the the troubled flight on FlightRadar. 

After its safe landing, Qantas said the mayday had been downgraded to a ‘possible assistance needed’.

A statement read: ‘Qantas Flight 144, a 737 flying from Auckland to Sydney, experienced an issue with one of its engines about an hour from its destination.

‘While a mayday was initially issued, this was downgraded to a PAN. The aircraft landed safely at around 3.30pm and is now being inspected by our engineers.

More to come.  

Source of data and images: dailymail