Friday, February 17, 2012

More Dramas for QantasLink Dash-8s with Forced Landing at Biloela (Thangool) Airport and Storms at Rockhampton Airport Forcing Diversions


After our Blog Post (HERE) about QantasLink Dash-8-200 VH-SDE being forced to land in Moranbah last week, comes news that antoher QantasLink Dash-8 made an emergency landing at Thangool Airport last week after a fire started in the cockpit. The incident occurred after reports of smoke coming from the cockpit of the plane. The pilots extinguished the fire and evacuated all 26 people from the plane, with no one suffering injuries. Fire crews from Biloela and Thangool went there, however the fire authorities were unsure how the fire started.

Meanwhile, Don W has sent me a story from the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin where passengers have reportedly applauded the skills of a QantasLink pilot for touching down safely in Gladstone late on Tuesday 7 February, following two aborted landings at Rockhampton Airport during a violent thunderstorm.

Most of passengers clapped and thanked the pilot after she had been forced to pull out of two attempted landings at Rockhampton Airport amid heavy rain and lightning about 9pm. More than 40mm of rain was dumped on Rockhampton in less than an hour. The pilot had tried to land the Dash-8-Q400 from both north and south approaches into the airport.

The plane had been due in Rockhampton at 8.25pm but eventually arrived there almost three hours late after refuelling at Gladstone where the crew also decided to ride out the storm as it moved south. It is believed that other flights were diverted to Thangool and Brisbane during the storm. Some Rockhampton passengers were then forced to wait more than 30 minutes in a taxi queue at the airport for a ride home due to the late arrival.

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