Qantas flight forced into emergency landing in northeast Australia

SYDNEY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — A Qantas flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Tuesday in northeast Australia after a cabin pressure issue.
Flight QF1871 from Townsville to Brisbane in the state of Queensland diverted and made an emergency landing at Rockhampton, approximately halfway between the two cities, on Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson for Qantas, Australia’s flag carrier, confirmed that the aircraft suffered a depressurization issue that caused pilots to descend from an altitude of 29,000 feet to 10,000 feet and request a priority landing at Rockhampton.
“The flight landed normally and we’ll get passengers on their way to Brisbane on other flights this morning,” the spokesperson said.
The flight departed from Townsville at 6 a.m. local time and was due in Brisbane at 7:50 a.m. but landed in Rockhampton at 7:15 a.m.
Naomi Lynch, a passenger on the flight, told News Corp Australia newspapers that the plane dropped rapidly after pilots announced an emergency descent.
An investigation into the incident is underway. ■