QF9 diverts in Syd this morning

[MarkR]

After reaching WA QF 9 has diverted to Sydney with the RFF following once it landed.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA9

That's one of the longer MEL-Syd trips I have seen. Believe an engine vibration problem caused it's return.

[Ricky T]

Aircraft involved was VH-OQJ.

Poor old 'Bert Hinkler' ran into quite a bit of trouble lately. The aircraft was grounded in LAX for a couple of days in late March due to a technical issue.

[Adrian B]

"A" newspaper is rating this trip as an "8 hour nightmare'. I wont justify the comment with a link.

[Philip Argy]

Wouldn't abnormal engine vibration be sufficient to break curfew, or was the circling delay needed to dump fuel?

[James Smith]

It may not have been only a curfew issue as QF9 didn't land until 6:40'ish according to Sydney Airport arrivals.

VH-OQL came in as the QF8 from Dallas this morning and left just before 10:00 am as the replacement aircraft on QF9. As at 20:00 Sydney time QF9 is 3 hours east of Dubai.

[MarkR]

Wouldn't abnormal engine vibration be sufficient to break curfew, or was the circling delay needed to dump fuel?

Had they been in a hurry to land then they would have gone to Perth, so curfew was not a factor.

[Philip Argy]

So from that I infer that they wanted the a/c back in Sydney as that was the best place to service it and the location from which the pax could get the quickest replacement A380, being the one coming in from DFW?

[Mick F]

WA or SA? I thought the map showed it over SA?

I think unless it was shutdown Phillip, then potentially it wasn't an "emergency" per say. Therefore it had to wait until curfew finished.

Had it been an emergency, then they wouldn't have flown to Sydney.

Who knows why there was still a delay until landing though. Maybe still above max landing weight? I don't have the regs in front of me, but I believe an aircraft is only permitted to dump fuel in an emergency. Therefore it comes back to the point above.

Mick

[Greg Hyde]

7News reported that it performed a fuel dump/burn when returning to Sydney due to reduce the landing weight.

[Rowan McKeever]

Philip, I expect (happy to be proven wrong) that the crew did not declare an emergency and therefore, no, a curfew dispensation would not be granted. I've also said elsewhere that I imagine an A380 would not need to circle to burn off fuel having already been airborne for over 7 hours. This smells a lot like hanging around waiting until the slot they were allocated.

[David N]

http://m.theage.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-melbourne-to-dubai-flight-circles-for-hours-before-returning-to-sydney-20160404-gnydy4.html

Before arriving at Sydney Airport, the flight had to wait until a landing "slot" was available in the busy morning period.

[MarkR]

WA or SA? I thought the map showed it over SA?

I think unless it was shutdown Phillip, then potentially it wasn't an "emergency" per say. Therefore it had to wait until curfew finished.

Had it been an emergency, then they wouldn't have flown to Sydney.

WA according to FR24/Flightaware, around the 160 minute mark of being airborne, the news sites have picked up airlive which shows SA as the turnaround, which in fact is where their coverage dropped. And it wasn't waiting for curfew to finish, would have been after 6AM without the racetracks.

[James Smith]

OQJ is just airborne operating today's QF1 flight to Dubai and London.