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Category: Emergency Incidents / Air Transport / Air and Space / Accidents / Transport

'Flames came out of the engine': Passenger describes Rex Airlines emergency landing

Thursday, 23 Mar 2017 08:10:29 | Michelle Brown

The Rex plane that made an emergency landing in Dubbo Airport is towed on the tarmac. (ABC News: Nick Lowther)

A Rex Airlines flight has made an emergency landing at Dubbo Airport, the carrier's second mid-air incident in a week, with a passenger reporting flames coming from the flight 821's engine.

Key points:

  • Rex Airlines has experienced two mid-air emergencies on planes in the past week
  • Today, a flight had to make an emergency landing at Dubbo Airport and last Friday, a propeller fell off a flight over Sydney
  • No-one was hurt in either incident

The pilot was forced to shut the engine down after a warning light came on about 10:10am.

All 26 passengers and crew landed safely and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has begun an investigation.

The flight was headed from Dubbo to Sydney.

'Flames came out of the engine'

Passenger Tim Evans described the moment the incident unfolded.

"We were about 10 minutes out of Dubbo and all of a sudden there was this big loud noise and a shaking of the aeroplane," he said.

"I happened to be in a seat just next to the engine and I saw these flames came out of the engine.

"Then it did another big bang and a shake of the plane and all of these embers came out of the engine and I looked at the propeller and it was clear the engine had stopped."

A man looks at the camera Photo: Tim Evans could see the engine from his seat on the plane. (ABC News: Nick Lowther)

Mr Evans said he felt sick when he learnt there was a problem.

"I just thought to myself, oh my God, I can't believe this is happening," he said.

"We had been sort of joking about the propeller falling off the week before, and here we all were just looking at each other in the plane in total disbelief that this was actually happening."

Second emergency in a week

Last Friday a Rex plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a propeller fell off mid-air. Police located the propeller in bushland in Sydney's south-west on Tuesday.

Both planes that made emergency landings were the same model of aircraft — SAAB 340B.

Dubbo police inspector Dan Skelly said the pilot followed the correct procedures.

"It was a little tenuous in the beginning — the report was that there was a plane circling, waiting to land at Dubbo with one engine failed," he said.

"Due to the great work of the pilot the plane landed successfully, coming to a stop at the end of the runway and was towed back to the apron."

AustraliaPlus


 

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