More than 300 passengers stranded in Los Angeles airport after their Qantas flight to Melbourne was aborted on Saturday night were supplied a pillow and a blanket and told to sleep in the terminal during their 12-hour wait.
The wife of a Melbourne man on board the plane said only a third of the flight's 500 passengers were offered a hotel room.
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A Qantas jet flying from Los Angeles to Melbourne has been turned around two hours after take off when sparks were seen coming from an engine. Vision: Channel 7.
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Qantas LA-Melbourne flight aborted
A Qantas jet flying from Los Angeles to Melbourne has been turned around two hours after take off when sparks were seen coming from an engine. Vision: Channel 7.
The others were given a blanket, a pillow and food vouchers and told to get some sleep while they waited for a replacement flight.
Shauna Lye, wife of Melbourne lawyer James Alsop, said Qantas staff had told passengers there was a shortage of available hotel rooms in LA.
"He said there was about 500 people on board and they weren't able to accommodate everyone," Ms Lye told Fairfax Media.
Qantas confirmed only 120 hotel rooms were made available to passengers.
A spokesman said only 20 people chose to take up the offer, with the majority preferring to remain at the airport.
Ms Lye said her husband, a lawyer in the US for business, was apprehensive about getting back on board to return home.
"I think it was a bit nerve-racking for him," Ms Lye said.
Flight QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne was forced to turn around two hours after take-off when sparks were seen coming from an engine.
The A380 had been due in Melbourne on Sunday morning, but the pilot was forced to turn the flight around mid-air after one of four engines on board failed.
It arrived back at LAX about 3am local time.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau had little information about the flight, spokesman Michael Walker said, and planned to gather further detail before deciding whether an investigation was warranted.
Qantas confirmed the incident, saying pilots followed standard procedure in shutting down the engine and turning the flight around.
It is understood one of the engines overheated, but did not catch fire. Loud noises may have been the sound of the engine being shut down.
"The pilots followed standard procedure, shut down the engine, and the flight landed normally in LA at around 3am local time on Saturday.
Engineers are inspecting the aircraft," Qantas spokesman Thomas Woodward said.
"A replacement flight departed LA at around 2.30pm on Saturday, so we'll have the passengers home soon."
The replacement flight is also in an A380, and is expected to land in Melbourne about 10pm on Sunday.
.@Qantas Flight94 to Melb returned to LAX with sparks coming from an engine & now being inspected. pic.twitter.com/ASAwtK4aE2
— Rob D (@robbie_b_d) May 20, 2017
One passenger, Darren Sudgen, told News Limited he heard a loud noise as the engine failed.
"There was an explosion from outside. We saw flames and sparks flying past the window," Mr Sudgen said.
He said Qantas staff asked passengers to stay the night inside LAX as another flight could leave about lunchtime.
@gpyman Hi Geoffrey QF94 has been diverted back to LAX due to operational reasons. Sam
— Qantas (@Qantas) May 20, 2017