- Qantas flight QF520 had to make an emergency landing in Sydney after a suspected engine failure.
- The plane was a Boeing 737-800, per the flight tracking websites Flightradar24 and FlightAware.
- As of June 30, the Qantas Group had 347 aircraft, 75 of which were Boeing 737-800 planes.
A Qantas flight headed to Brisbane had to make an emergency landing at Sydney Airport after a suspected engine failure.
Qantas flight QF520 made a safe landing just after 1 p.m. local time, a spokesperson for Sydney Airport told Business Insider.
"This departure of aircraft coincided with a grass fire along the eastern side of the airport's parallel runway, which was brought under control by teams from the Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Service," the spokesperson said in a statement.
"It's not clear at this stage if the two incidents are linked and investigations are continuing," the statement continued, adding that the airport's main runway remains operational.
When approached for comment, a representative for Qantas pointed BI to a statement it published on their website.
"One of our flights to Brisbane experienced a suspected engine failure after take-off from Sydney Airport this afternoon," Qantas said in a statement published at 1:50 p.m. local time, adding that customers were being moved onto other flights.
Less than 30 minutes after its first statement, the airline published an update, saying that a preliminary inspection by its engineers confirmed that the plane had experienced a "contained engine failure."
The plane was a Boeing 737-800, per the flight tracking websites Flightradar24 and FlightAware.
Boeing doesn't manufacture engines. The Qantas plane is about 19 years old, meaning this incident was likely a maintenance issue and not Boeing's fault. A contained failure means the engine did what it was designed to do during a failure by maintaining its parts within the engine's protective casing.
Qantas services its international and domestic flights with a fleet that includes Airbus and Boeing planes. As of June 30, the Qantas Group had 347 aircraft, 75 of which were Boeing 737-800 planes.
Boeing has faced intense scrutiny, particularly after an incident in January when a door plug flew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 on an Alaskan Airlines flight from Oregon to California.
Last month, Boeing reported a net loss of $6.1 billion in the third quarter of 2024. The aerospace manufacturer posted a loss of more than $1.4 billion in the previous quarter. Boeing's shares are down nearly 42% year to date.
Representatives for Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.