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Midair emergency forces China Eastern Airlines flight to return to Sydney

Published: June 12 2017 - 12:53PM

A China Eastern Airlines flight from Sydney to Shanghai has been forced to turn around after engine failure caused a midair emergency.

"The moment that we took off, the wing to my left just started making a massive amount of noise and they cleared all the seats," a passenger told the Nine Network.

Images show a huge hole in the engine casing of the Airbus A330, which was forced to circle for an hour before touching down safely.

An audio recording of the pilot's communication with Sydney Tower air traffic control captured the midair emergency, with the pilot clearly explaining the gravity of the situation.

#ChinaEastern flight #MU736 returns after engine fault detected after take-off from Sydney, no casualties https://t.co/8S7j3p3nvX pic.twitter.com/txkuxpMLwM

Listen as pilots of China Eastern flight #MU736 communicate with Sydney tower regarding engine #1 issue before returning to Sydney. pic.twitter.com/TO2QyGi8pr

Flight MU736 took off from Sydney bound for Shanghai about 8.30pm on Sunday, before experiencing problems shortly into the journey.

Crew members noticed the inner cowling of engine one had been ripped open and raised the alarm with the captain.

Tracking shows the plane heading north before turning south-west, then heading east before turning around and returning to Sydney.

Emergency landing for China Eastern MU736 at Sydney Airport - radioed a problem with engine. @7NewsSydney at the scene. pic.twitter.com/PX1U8ccXPl

Sydney passenger Maddie Frith, who was heading for Europe, said the incident could have been worse.

"I am glad we are all safe," she told Nine News.

Passenger Leigh Stewart praised the crew's professionalism during the midair drama, saying he felt "very lucky".

WATCH: A passenger from last night’s China Eastern flight which suffered an engine malfunction details exactly what happened. #sun7 pic.twitter.com/mpcUwPhyOY

Other passengers reported hearing a loud noise followed by a burning smell in the cabin before the plane turned around.

"The moment we took off, the wing to my left just started making a massive amount of noise," one passenger told Seven News.

Another passenger said: "We went up in the air and all of a sudden we heard this noise… it kind of smelt like burning. Oh, I was scared. Yeah, I was really scared. Our group was terrified."

As most announcements on board were made in Chinese, English-speaking passengers said they struggled to find out the details.

The plane landed safely at Sydney Airport where it was greeted by emergency services on the tarmac. All the passengers and crew were evacuated safely and no injuries were reported. 

China Eastern staff and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are investigating the cause of the damage.

General manager of China Eastern Airlines Oceania region, Kathy Zhang, said the plane ran into problems after take-off.

"The crew observed the abnormal situation of the left engine and decided to return to Sydney airport immediately," she said in a statement.

"The returned aircraft is currently under investigation at Sydney airport."

Those on board spent the night in nearby hotels and were expected to fly out on Monday morning.

Aviation websites are reporting the damage is eerily similar to that seen in the failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-60 engine on an Egyptair A330-200 in May.

A mid-air emergency has forced a Shanghai bound flight to return to Sydney. #9News pic.twitter.com/Etn4Mtaurb

With AAP

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/midair-emergency-forces-china-eastern-flight-to-return-to-sydney-20170611-gwp359.html