A domestic Qantas flight made an emergency landing in northeast Australia on Tuesday due to a brake malfunction.
Flight QF1929 left Brisbane Airport bound for Adelaide at 8:20 a.m. local time on Tuesday before turning back approximately 40 minutes into the journey and landing back in Brisbane at 9:51 a.m.
A spokesperson for Qantas said that the aircraft, an Embraer E-190, landed safely in Brisbane after experiencing a mechanical issue.
“A flight from Brisbane to Adelaide returned to Brisbane shortly after takeoff due to an issue with landing gear brakes,” they said. “We understand that this would have been a distressing experience for customers and we thank them for following the instructions of the crew.”
They said the airline was working to get customers back on their way to Adelaide as soon as possible.
Passenger Tudor Vasile told Nine Entertainment radio that the captain announced mid-flight that the brakes were locked in place and could cause the wheels to blow on impact.
Vasile said that passengers were told to brace for emergency impact but that it was a great feeling when the plane landed safely.
Emergency service vehicles were deployed to meet the aircraft.
Qantas said the plane would be checked by engineers before being returned to service. ■