Qantas Airways Boeing B737-800 VH-VXE Diverts to Rockhampton Airport with Pressurisation Probelm - UPDATED!!

Qantas Airways flight QF974 flying from Brisbane to Townsville, has been forced to divert to Rockhampton Airport on Tuesday 29 January.  The aircraft involved was one of the airlines' Boeing 737-800, registered VH-VXE.

Initial reports suggested that there was a cabin depressurisation, with oxygen masks being deployed   Flight tracking website Flightaware shows estimations of the aircraft's flight track, and clearly shows a rapid descent from 38000 feet to 10000 feet, which is a normal procedure during a loss of cabin pressure.

  

A Qantas spokesperson released a statement about 5.30pm stating that “During the flight the crew detected that the aircraft was not maintaining its normal cabin pressure, (and that) in line with standard procedure, the Captain initiated a descent to 10,000 feet.”

The spokesperson said the aircraft landed safely in Rockhampton at about 3.30pm and engineers were examining the aircraft.

A replacement aircraft - sistership VH-VZZ - was noted arriving into Rockhampton at about 8.30pm on Tuesday 29 January.  It was expected to depart on the continuation of QF974 later in the evening.

“Passengers were calm throughout the descent and there were no reports of anyone on board, including crew, suffering any adverse effects,” the spokesperson said.

“Qantas has reported this incident to CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) and the ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau), and will work with Boeing to investigate the cause."

All photos taken by IAD  ©