Some Photos from a Busy Sunday Afternoon at Rockhampton Airport with Brisbane Storm Diversions Touching Down

As we reported on our Facebook page, during the late afternoon on Sunday 21 October, three commercial jet aircraft operating Regular Passenger Transport (RPT) flights into Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast Airports were forced to divert to Rockhampton Airport as a fierce line of thunder storms rolled through the South-East corner of the state.

Virgin Australia Boeing B737-800s VH-YFW as VOZ782 from Cairns and VH-YFY as VOZ331 from Melbourne (Tullamarine) were first to touch down at Rockhampton Airport and park after being unable to land at Brisbane.

These were followed into Rocky by Jetstar Airways Airbus A320 VH-VFU which was operating as JST796 from Melbourne (Tullamarine) which was unable to land at the Sunshine Coast.

After each aircraft was refuelled and the storms had cleared the area around the South-East corner, they all departed in turn for their final destinations.

Meanwhile, a couple of other notable diversions late on Sunday 22 October included Alliance Airlines Fokker F-100 VH-XWT which was operating from Rockhampton Airport to Brisbane for Virgin Australia as VOZ1244 diverted to Bundaberg Airport.  While QantasLink Boeing B717-200 VH-NXQ operating from Cairns to Brisbane as QJE1749 diverted to Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport.

Finally, QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 VH-QOI operating QLK2399 from Gladstone Airport to Brisbane diverted to Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport for some time before eventually heading to Brisbane.  While Alliance Airlines Fokker F-70 VH-NKU operating for Virgin Australia but as VOZ2908 was delayed departing Gladstone Airport for Brisbane by some two hours.

Sincere thanks to the Rockhampton plane spotters for taking the time to capture and send through these great photos!

Photos taken by Trevor Hardsman, Kayanne Hardsman and Micah S  ©