A Qantas flight carrying three Liberal politicians has been forced to make an premature landing after the cabin began filling with smoke following a mid-air emergency.
Flight QF1972, bound for Canberra, issued a mayday call shortly after taking off from Adelaide Airport about 6.10am and landed safely around ten minutes later.
Senator Leah Blyth who was travelling with two colleagues to a crucial meeting on net zero, said the cabin began filling with smoke before the premature landing.
‘I’ve never had a cabin fill with smoke quite like that before,’ Ms Blyth told radio station FIVEAA.
‘Hats off to the Qantas staff who were cool calm and collected and got us back on the ground safely.’
Qantas has yet to confirm the cause of the incident, but Ms Blyth said the smoke smelled more ‘electrical’ than fuel-related.
The South Australian Senator said her travel plans remain uncertain, ahead of the agenda-setting meeting.
‘Hopefully I will still get to Canberra on time for a very important party meeting,’ she said.
‘We were joking saying the net zero debate has gone up in smoke.’
Flight tracking data shows the aircraft turned back over St Vincent Gulf, west of McLaren Vale, before returning to Adelaide.
Liberals MPs and senators will gather in Canberra at midday to settle their position on whether to dump net zero or retain some elements of the emissions target.
The senior Coalition party is hoping to land on a firm position ahead of a special meeting with members of the Nationals party on Sunday.
More to come.
Flight QF-1972 landed safely in Adelaide shortly before 6.30am on Wednesday, some ten minutes after taking off from the airport
Early reports suggest the flight, originally bound for Canberra, was aborted after the cabin began to fill with smoke
