Qantas Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Smoke Seen in Cockpit

The airline told The Epoch Times that pilots are all highly trained to handle situations like this.

A Qantas Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane travels down the runway as a Qantas Boeing 717 plane lands at Sydney International Airport on June 7, 2024. DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images

Qantas flight 643 made an emergency landing in Sydney after smoke was discovered in the cockpit shortly after takeoff.

The Boeing 737 bound for Perth on March 3 was forced to return to Sydney just 18 minutes after takeoff.

An on-board distress call known as a PAN was declared by pilots to traffic control, but no mayday declaration was required.

Emergency services met the aircraft on arrival back at Sydney Airport after the plane landed normally and taxied back to the gate.

“One of our Sydney to Perth flights returned to Sydney shortly after take-off this morning, after reporting a technical issue,” Qantas told The Epoch Times. 

“Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were conducted.”

Qantas confirmed smoke was evident in the cockpit following take-off, leading to the captain requesting a priority landing. However, this smoke was restricted to the cockpit and did not enter the cabin.

Qantas said they understand this would have been an unsettling experience for customers and apologised for the inconvenience.

“Our engineers will be checking the aircraft today and we will be conducting an investigation into what caused the issue,” the airline said. 

Passengers on the plane were transferred to a new flight that was scheduled to depart Sydney at 11:30 a.m.

Qantas Profits

Qantas delivered financial results on Feb. 27, with an underlying profit before tax of $1.39 billion (US$865 million) for the first half of the 2025 financial year, up 11 percent.

“Net passenger revenue increased by 9 percent, predominantly from growth in international operations. Net freight revenue increased due to the restoration of belly space and strong demand in both domestic and international markets,” Qantas said.

CEO Vanessa Hudson added, “Australians have always loved to travel and continue to prioritise it over other spending options.”

The airline also revealed it would be upgrading its Boeing 737 cabins on 42 of its planes. This will include new business seats, new economy seats, and bigger overhead lockers with up to 50 percent more space.

A full cabin refresh will also be undertaken including new carpets, sidewalls and mood lighting. All of these aircraft will also continue to provide Wi-Fi.